


The ABC's of Commander Cody

by AgentCodywolf



Series: Star Wars: The Cody Wars [2]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (TV 2008)
Genre: Angst, Barody - Freeform, Death, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I got Kenody from my Roommate, Its barely there but you'll catch it, Kenody, Love my Kenody though, M/M, Multi, Ok lots of angst really, Painful amounts of angst, Resoka, Slash, Some Fluff, Some angst, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-21
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2017-11-04 02:04:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 54,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentCodywolf/pseuds/AgentCodywolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just like the title says. Some little prompts coinciding with the problems Cody has to deal with as he and the others battle to keep the galaxy safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A is Arachniphobia

Life has a way to twisting in just the right way at the right moment to ruin everything you'd been working on since the last twist in the road. This time was no different…or at least, it shouldn't have been. Cody, however, thought otherwise. This twist was the worst and possibly the last. You see, this twist involved…spiders.

Cody had lived his entire life being one hundred percent about a few things. 1-the only thing needed to be feared was failure to protect one's General. 2-He was capable of killing anything. Whether he survived it or not was still to be seen. 3-His entire squad should have been locked up in a loony bin. Today, everything he had believed in was going to be turned on its head and he wouldn't know that till after it was all over.

The real problem started a couple weeks prior, when Kenobi was ordered towards the Core to help with negotiations. Along with that order was an order for Cody to take the squad and head towards the Sluis Sector. Not sure why, but they had followed orders. Everything was going hunky-dory up until earlier, when they had been scanning another planet for another Sep base. The remnants of a Separatist cruiser had been picked up and of course Cody had to follow protocol. He'd ordered together a team and headed down to the planet. Biggest mistake of his life.

He'd led Oddball, Echo, Fives, Boil and Waxer into the murky swamp of the planet Dagobah, heading towards where the cruiser should be. Everything had been going just fine as they made it to the clearing where the cruiser was. No sign of droids or Sith or any sort of life form that could pose a threat. That was until they went inside the cruiser….and saw all the darkly glistening silk webs and the unblinking golden red eyes staring back at them. Hisses filled the air as the stare down commenced, Cody calling Hawk to quickly get to their location over a private link. Right about now would be a good time to have a Jedi.

The first spider to move was young and about the size of a small speeder. Cody fired first, slicing the bug in half with a series of blaster bolts. A barked order to run as the spiders surged forward and it went from a scouting mission to a survival mission. Cody stayed at the back, Odds keeping level with him. Echo and Fives were forced to the front with Boil and Waxer right on their heels. Between Cody and Odds and some well-placed shots they kept a good distance between them and the giant spiders from hell. That was until the spiders started shooting webs. Hawk had found a clearing nearby and was just waiting for them. The problem was they had to make it to him and hope the men at the guns could give them time to get inside. With blaster bolts and silken string flying everywhere, things were starting to look a little desperate.

Cody saw Odds go down out of the corner of his eye, a silken web wrapped around the pilot's legs. He skidded to a stop and quickly raced back to his fallen comrade, "BOIL! Get everyone to that ship!"

He didn't notice Boil glance over his shoulder, just at the edge of the clearing. Fives and Echo were already to the ship. All Cody focused on was skidding to a stop next to Odds and kneeling, firing at the darkness surging towards them. Next to him, Odds pulled out his vibroblade, hacking away at the web, "Sir, just go!"

"I'm not leaving you behind, Odds," Cody growled, throwing a detonator at the spiders as Odds finished clearing away the last of the web. He fired a few shots before Cody shoved him away, "Get going, soldier!"

"You'd better be right behind me!" Odds growled before running back towards Boil, who was standing between them and the clearing, providing cover. Cody turned and raced a few steps forward before he felt something wrap around his waist, jerking him back away from his men. He heard Boils' yell of fury and saw Odds hesitate, starting to turn back towards him.

"GO!" Cody roared, twisting in the grip of his captor, his blaster spitting fire into the darkness around him. "THAT'S AN ORDER!"

"SIR!" He heard voices yell in his comlink as he fell for what seemed like forever, looking up at the billions of glittering eyes above and around him, his blaster the only source of light as it kept firing. Something grabbed him again and he was flung into a tree, a sharp crack echoing through his helmet as it was slammed forward. He somehow ended up on the ground, his world fuzzy as his entire body screamed out in pain. He bit back the more vocal versions of this suffering, trying to find his blaster. Something stepped down on his wrist and he could hold it in. A cry of pain escaped him as a very large, very mad looking spider slowly lowered itself towards him, pincers clacking violently.

The men had to turn off their connections to their commander as they raced back towards the cruiser to block out the harsh cries of pain. Back down on the planet, all fell silent, the echoes of pain filled pleas of mercy fading away.

Obi-wan slowly walked through the swamps of Dagobah, moving like a phantom. Nearby, clones moved, blasters at the ready, always in pairs. The only reason that this search was even happening was because Kenobi had ordered it. Not the Chancellor, not the Jedi Council, just Kenobi and none of the men ever disobeyed Kenobi. Ever…except Cody. And Cody was missing. Not dead but missing. Kenobi had said he was missing, that he was still alive. What he hadn't mentioned was the barely part. For Obi-wan, Cody wasn't just another clone but a friend, a brother. You never, ever left a brother behind.

Obi-wan moved away from the men, following what the Force was telling him. He'd be the first to say that he had trouble sometimes trusting the Force, but the one thing he knew was that whenever it came to Cody, it was never wrong. The first day they had met, Obi-wan had trusted in the Force to trust Cody with his life. Over the past few years he'd continued to trust in what the Force told him about Cody and right now it was saying Cody was not dead but needed help badly.

The moment Obi-wan had gotten the call from Boil, he'd left his meeting and headed straight for Dagobah. He'd ignored calls from Palpatine, Mace, Anakin, Bail, everyone. Except Yoda. You never ignored Yoda. He hadn't been mad, just warned Obi-wan to be careful. You never know what could be lurking in the dark. He also gave the ok on this mission, by passing Palpatine and the Council. Yoda rarely did that, which meant what ever he was seeing in the Force involving Obi-wan also included Cody. Which meant Cody was still alive…for now. Obi-wan shook his head, driving away those dark thoughts. Cody needed him to stay focused so the men stayed focused so they could at least get some time to get Cody away from the spiders.

Movement up ahead caused him to tense, holding up a hand to signal the men to fall still. Silence filled the air, not a single beast or man moving, all holding their breath. Suddenly, echoing from nearby, came a strange clacking sound. It started off soft, Obi-wan only just picking it up. Then it grew and grew and grew till it echoed around them. It sounded angry. It sounded deadly. It sounded bad. The worst part came soon after the clacking noises' crescendo. A sharp cry of pain, weak and pitiful, reached their ears before there was a roar of fury followed but a plea for mercy. The pain-filled screams ripped at Obi-wan's heart and he raced forward on silent feet, knowing he didn't have much time. He leapt upward and came to rest on a branch, carefully hidden by the native foliage. From his perch he had a good view into the clearing beyond. Dark, glistening webs, holding at least a hundred of the giant arachnids, surrounded it. Down in the middle of the trampled grass making up the floor of the spider kingdom was the Lord of all spiders. A giant black beast, pincers clacking in fury at the squirming figure it held down with four of its legs as the cries of pain faded away. Obi-wan could make out smaller spiders making their way hurriedly back into the darkness, the last few just leaving the tortured body. To see that Cody was still fighting gave Obi-wan hope, even though he probably didn't have much time. He could worry about the damage done to Cody after Cody was safely away from his captors.

Obi-wan quickly collected his thoughts, looking over the clearing. First things first. Get himself between Cody and the giant spider. Hopefully by then back up would arrive. Obi-wan gripped his lightsaber tightly before leaping off his perch, using the Force to propel him forward and onto the spider's back, slashing at its back. It roared, rearing upward, which gave Obi-wan the opportunity to jump down and quickly drag Cody away from the spider. It came back down, its many eyes glaring at the Jedi as he set his injured commander down and stood, lightsaber hissing.

"Sir?" Cody's soft, pain filled voice cut right to Obi-wan's heart and he spared Cody a glance, nodding, taking the man's appearance in. He looked horrible, to put it nicely. The tattered remains of his body glove was all that covered Cody's abused frame. Cuts, puncture wounds, and bruises were the only physical signs Obi-wan could see of the man's suffering, but he had no doubt of the internal and mental injuries he was also suffering from. Just by looking into Cody's eyes, Obi-wan knew the amount of fear he was feeling right now.

"We'll be out of here before you know it," Obi-wan tried to make his voice sound normal as he focused back on the arachnid, but it didn't quite sound right. A little rougher than normal. The spider hissed at him, clacking its pincers as he moved closer, jabbing a leg at Obi-wan. He dodged, slashing down at the leg, severing the end of it. The spider roared in pain and moved back, watching Obi-wan warily. Obi-wan stayed close to Cody, ready for the next strike, "The men should be here soon."

All he got in answer was a soft groan and he felt a hand grip his ankle. Obi-wan looked down to see that Cody had curled up slightly, one hand clinging to Obi-wan's ankle as though it was a lifeline. Obi-wan slowly knelt, one eye on the spider, one on Cody. He rested on hand on Cody's shoulder, gently rubbing it, feeling the tension in his commander's muscles, "Cody, I am not leaving you. I will not let it hurt you anymore."

"There were….were so….so many," Cody moaned, a few tears escaping from closed eyes.

"I know, Cody, I know. Its over now, I promise," Obi-wan murmured, scanning the clearing. He could see the men taking up positions around them, watching Obi-wan silently as the spider circled them. Obi-wan shifted slightly so he had one foot on either side of Cody, still in a crouched position, Cody's hand still gripping his ankle. He kept his hand on Cody's shoulder, eyeing the spider with contempt. It hissed before launching a web at him. He brought his saber up and slashed through it, angering the spider. It lunged at Obi-wan, pincers wide. He slashed at its two front legs before ducking down, covering Cody as the spider tumbled over them. He quickly stood, his saber now on his hip as he quickly scooped Cody up. He nodded to Boil as he raced towards him, giving him the go ahead. He could feel Cody's hand twisting into his robe, anchoring himself to the Jedi. He didn't mind, didn't care even as long as it made the commander feel safe. All around him the men opened fire, driving the spiders away as they moved to surround Obi-wan as he raced back towards the gunships. None of them relaxed until the ships were in the air and racing back towards the cruiser. As soon as the green light came on, signaling they were clear, Obi-wan sat down, setting Cody down so the man's head was in his lap. Cody still clung to his robe, now with both hands. He curled up against the older man, looking very much like the 13 year old he truly was. Obi-wan carefully slipped off his robe and wrapped it around the distraught man, running a gently hand over Cody's shoulder, feeling him slowly relax. Boil can and knelt next to them, running his hand through Cody's hair as the others watched silently, slowly removing helmets, eyes filled with concern for their commander.

"Ner vod, its alright," Boil said softly, placing his other hand on Cody's side as Obi-wan continued to rub Cody's shoulder. "Udensii. We're here, nothing is going to hurt you."

"They… they wouldn't…wouldn't stop," Cody curled tighter against Obi-wan, his body shaking. "There…there were…so many."

"K'uur, vod, k'uur," Boil said softly, meeting Obi-wan's eyes, looking sad.

Obi-wan nodded and placed his other hand on Cody's forehead," Relax, Cody, relax."

Obi-wan's hand glowed slightly and Cody's body went limp, his breathing evening out. Boil sighed as he sat back, looking his brother over, "What are we going to do?"

"Be there for him, like we've always been," Obi-wan nodded slowly. "Master Yoda will make sure we have some time off, I'm sure. We'll be strong for him, just like he's always strong for us. Until he is better, we won't do anything less."

Boil and the others on the gun ship nodded, moving so they could all see their commander as they sat down, waiting to arrive on the cruiser. Cody may be a hard man sometimes, but no one could deny he was also a good brother. They would be there for him, no matter what.


	2. B is for Barriss

B is for Barriss

No one had ever said the road to recovery was easy. If anyone ever tried to tell Cody that, he might just punch them. He'd been back on the cruiser for three days and had been allowed to wake up for the first time in the past ten minutes. He silently listened to Meds as the medic softly told him of his injures, one hand resting on Cody's arm, letting him know that he wasn't along. Obi-wan stood by the door, head bowed, arms crossed, face hidden in shadows. Meds had said Obi-wan had saved him, which meant Obi-wan had seen him….had seen his fear. Cody closed his eyes and turned his head away, taking a calming breath. The spiders, they were everywhere, filling his sleep, crawling over him even now. He shuddered and Meds' thumb started to massage Cody's arm gently, his voice fading away.

"Cody?" he felt a hand lightly land on his shoulder and he slowly turned his head, opening his eyes to see Obi-wan's concerned face at his level. The older man was crouching by his bed, watching Cody worriedly. Meds stayed on his stool, silently watching the two. Obi-wan searched Cody's eyes before nodding, "It will go away, I promise."

Cody nodded weakly, not daring to speak. He didn't think he could even if he tried, but he didn't want to find out. Obi-wan gave him a sad smile, rubbing his shoulder gently, "I've called a friend of ours, Barriss, to come help. You remember her, right?"

Cody nodded again, remembering the silent green girl who had always been with Master Luminara. A bright young Jedi healer, just as much a follower of rules as Obi-wan.

"It will be hard, but you have to stay with us, ok?" Obi-wan frowned, concern creasing his face. "Cody, can you try to say something? Anything?"

Cody averted his eyes, unsure of what to do. He didn't trust his throat, didn't trust himself right now. Meds answered instead, "Its alright, sir. He just needs time. His vocal cords need to heal anyway. They've been badly strained with all the screaming he's been doing."

Cody focused on Meds, his eyes wide. Meds nodded sadly," Its one of the reasons I want Barriss here. Obi-wan can help you rest, but he can only do so much for so long. Barriss is good at the mental healing as well as the physical. I need you to trust me, Cody. I am only doing this to help you. The nightmares will end, I promise. We don't need to know what happened unless you want to tell us, ok?"

Cody nodded, letting his eyes slip close. Even knocked out by drugs his body let them know what was happening within, even if he didn't know it.

"Get some rest, boss," Meds said softly, squeezing Cody's arm one last time before standing. "The drugs should help a little till Barriss gets here. And I'm sure one of us will always be here. Nothing is going to hurt you."

Cody opened one eye to watch Meds leave. Obi-wan stood, his hand leaving Cody's shoulder as he pushed the stool back into the corner before pulling a chair up to Cody's bed and taking Cody's good hand, silently looking his commander over. His right wrist was splinted and tied to his chest. Bandages covered most of his body. His left leg was elevated, easing the pressure on a broken ankle. A bruise circled around Cody's right eye. His hair had been cut even shorter to Meds could stitch up his wounds. He was a little thinner, a little paler and a whole lot quieter and it scared Obi-wan to his core. Hopefully Barriss could help, "Cody, I am going to be here for you. I will stay until Barriss comes. Is that ok?"

Cody nodded, tightening his grip on Obi-wan's hand as his eyes slip close, letting the drugs take effect.

Cody woke up screaming, trying to break free of the giant black spider's hold. He could feel the pincers digging into his leg, tearing into his muscle. He just wanted to be free! His eyes flew open, expecting to see the glittering gold eyes laughing mockingly at him but instead saw white. A clean white wall with a white cupboard and counter. Chest heaving, Cody finally heard the commanding, feminine voice speaking to him, telling him to calm down. He realized the grip on his shoulders was not claws but hands, trying to push him back onto the bed. All energy left him and he let the hands push his trembling form back onto the bed, the soft words reaching his ears but meaning nothing. There was a dull ache in his leg, reminding him of his nightmare. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to forget, to relax, to do anything but remember. The hands left his shoulders and on came to cup his face, turning it to the left a little.

"Cody?" a soft voice asked, a soft thumb rubbing his jawline gently. "Cody, open your eyes for me, please."

He slowly did as he was told, opening his eyes to meet soft blue eyes looking at him expectantly. Green skin was wrinkled in concern as the figure bent closer to him, the other hand coming to rest on his right side, right where his shoulder and neck met, "Cody, it is alright. They are not here. Do you understand?"

Cody nodded, his body still trembling under her touch. Barriss Offee, now a Jedi Knight, gently massaged his neck, watching him sadly. She had met Commander Cody a few times and each time she had been impressed by how powerful, how calm he felt in the Force. Now…now he felt broken, helpless. She understood why Obi-wan had called her and practically begged for her to come.

"He hasn't said anything since I found him," Obi-wan's soft voice came from by the door where he stood, out of her way. Cody focused on him, his breathing slowly getting back to a normal rate. Obi-wan stood by the door; his arms crossed once more, his eyes on Cody, looking sad. He hated seeing Cody in so much pain, just hated it and there was nothing he could do about it. Cody looked away, feeling ashamed. He was hurting everyone around him.

"Its probably physiological as well as physical. Has he been screaming like this a lot?" Barriss focused on Obi-wan, nodding gently to him to let him know he could come closer. He did, moving back into his chair by Cody's bed.

"Yes, he has. Between Meds and me we've gotten him settled back down. This is the first time he's woken up," Obi-wan watched Cody as the clone let his eyes slip close.

"Meds said he's kept Cody out for the count till today," Barriss nodded, straightening up, let her hands fall to her sides as she surveyed the man in front of her. "I can get most of the physical damage healed in about a week to two weeks, depending on how things go. The mental damage may take a little longer, but I think in the end Cody will be pretty much back to normal."

"Why won't he talk?" Obi-wan asked softly.

"He shouldn't be talking right now, not with the damage I'm sensing to his vocal cords. Why he hasn't tried is probably do to physiological reasons. He's ashamed, he's scared, he doesn't trust himself," Barriss moved so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, still watching Cody, thinking. "He's been through a lot, Obi-wan, but I can help him. I know how much he means to you and the men."

"Thank you, Barriss," Obi-wan smiled slightly, bringing his eyes up to hers.

Barriss nodded, looking down at Cody, "First things first, he needs to get as much rest as he can for the next few days while I heal the more serious injures and the only way that will happen is if his mind is clear. I will be putting him into Force coma for now so that he does rest and recover. I will wake him in a few days to check to see how he is doing and check reflexes. If he is doing well, I will let him sleep on his own so we can work on healing the mental damage. If it is still too much, I will continue to help him sleep."

"Again, Barriss, I thank you," Obi-wan nodded as Barriss' hands started to glow blue as she rested one on Cody's forehead and one on his chest.

"It is the least I can do."

When Cody came around once again, he felt like he'd been sleeping for years. His muscles were stiff, his body felt well rested. He still hurt, but not as much as the last few times he had woken up. It was then that realized that something was missing. There were no images of the giant spider or the feeling of the little ones crawling all over him. Yes, he still felt the terror in him, but it wasn't as paralyzing as before. It lightened his soul a little, made him relax a little. He lay there in the bed, his eyes closed, and relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"Feeling better?" Barriss' soft voice came from nearby and he turned his head, opening his eyes to see Barriss in the chair he remembered Obi-wan occupying last. Speaking of his general, Cody searched the room trying to find him, but the Jedi was missing.

"I made him go get some sleep, food and get cleaned up earlier," Barriss answered the unspoken question. She leaned forward, placing her hand not to Cody's but not touching it. "How are you feeling, Cody?"

Cody hesitated, unsure of what to do. He wanted to try and talk, but he still didn't touch himself. Barriss moved her hand so her pointer finger was touching his, "Your vocals are pretty much healed, Cody. The only thing stopping you is you."

Cody looked away, bringing his finger away from hers, shaking a little. Barriss sighed and sat back, "Cody, I know you know you're worrying everyone. I'm doing everything I can to help, but I can only do so much if you don't respond. All I want you to say is yes or no. Ok?"

Cody nodded weakly, taking a deep breath, "I….I feel….d-decent….."

Barriss smiled, taking Cody's hand and squeezing, "That's better than nothing. Don't say anything more unless I say you can. You've done quite the number on your throat and its not quite healed yet."

"I….I missed…..you," Cody slowly brought his eyes to hers and Barriss smiled, placing a kiss on his forehead.

"I missed you, too. You had me so worried," she said softly, rubbing his hand gently. "Go back to sleep, I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Cody smiled weakly before letting his eyes slip close.

Three weeks later Barriss finally deemed Cody capable of being moved from the med ward and into his own rooms. Not quite ready for training but ready for a change of scenery. She also decided she would be the one to babysit him, giving Meds a break from the now somewhat normal clone commander. He had moments where he would just shut down, but for the most part he was fine. Sore, weak, but fine.

"You are not helping me to the refresher," Cody growled as he slowly made his way across his room. "I do have some pride left."

"No one would know but us," Barriss smiled from her seat in a chair by his bed where she had been reading.

"But I would know," Cody shot her a glare before closing the door to the refresher. Barriss just laughed, happy to see her Cody back to normal. It had taken some time, but both Barriss and Cody had admitted to feelings for each other. Nothing had really happened, it was just mutually understood that both cared for each other greatly and this latest incident only proved to strengthen their bond. Barriss focused back on her datapad. It was peaceful now. Obi-wan was off discussing their next mission, a more negotiation based trip to allow Cody to heal some more.

"Oh, so you can work but I can't?" Cody leaned against the refresher door, a smirk on his face. Barriss looked up and smiled.

"Its not work, its reading for fun. Ever tried it?" She laughed.

"Yes, I have actually," Cody limped back to his bed and stretched out, head to the side so he could watch her. "Come here."

"Some one want to cuddle?" Barriss smirked, setting her datapad aside. She crawled into bed next to Cody and pulled the blankets over them before curling up against Cody's side. Cody wrapped his good arm around her, pulling her even closer.

"It helps me sleep," he said softly and Barriss placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I know, hon, I know," She whispered, resting her head on his chest, wrapping an arm around his waist. "And I don't plan on letting that change anytime soon."


	3. C is for Cold

C is for Cold

  
The best way to welcome a clone commander back after six months of leave due to severe injury and mental instability was to send him to the coldest planet of the galaxy to battle a crazy Separatist General. Of course, said commander would not be alone, his general was there and his men, but still. Not Cody’s idea of a welcome back present. No, a welcome back present would be guarding Kenobi on a negotiation trip or something along the same lines. However, the higher ups didn’t have the same idea, so Cody found himself, 13 days after being cleared by Meds and Barriss, hopping off the gunship and into the blowing, cold snows of Hoth.

  
“Hey, sir, bet this just makes your day!” Waxer laughed as he gently bumped his shoulder against Cody’s, more letting the man know someone was covering his back than anything.

  
“Sure, Waxer, sure,” Cody growled, looking around as the gunship took off. “Where is Grievous suppose to be?”

  
“That’s what we have to find out,” Obi-wan moved to Cody’s side as Waxer and Boil moved after Anakin and Rex. Did he forget to mention the Dynamic Duo were with? Yup, the kid was back up on the ship, ready to provide air support if needed. Added protection incase he snapped. Kenobi had not appreciated that thought when Cody had shared it with him earlier.

  
“Ya know, Grievous kinda reminds me of a spider,” Cody said lightly as he headed after the others, sensing more than seeing Obi-wan tense.

  
“Can you handle this, Cody?”

  
“Sure,” Cody shrugged. “I get to squish him. What more can I ask for?”

  
“Although I am happy you are doing better, Cody, I am still concerned,” Obi-wan pulled his hood tighter around his face as he followed Cody.

  
“No way to know until you try, sir. Best thing for me is to get back out and face the fear. Hell, I will be the first to admit spiders freak me out, but I can’t let it stop me. I’ll scream later, I promise,” Cody glanced over at Obi-wan.

  
“Meds did say it was healthier to have the emotions out where we can handle them then bottled up,” good to see his general understood what Cody was trying to do here. A little laughter was good for the soul. Kept the darker things at bay for the most part.

  
“So, after we find Grievous, then what?” Cody led his General after the others.

  
“Then we attempt to capture him,” Obi-wan moved so he was walking side-by-side with Cody. “If he’s even here.”

  
“So let me get this straight. We are on the coldest planet in the entire universe looking for a Separatist General who might not even be here?” Cody sighed. This sounded like the best mission ever.

  
“I know its not the ideal first mission back, but its what we got handed. No point in complaining now that we are here,” Obi-wan shrugged.

  
“Did you hear me complaining?” Cody glanced at his Jedi.

  
“You were getting there,” Obi-wan smiled a little.

  
“Was not,” Cody growled, but couldn’t help smiling.

  
“Hey, you two in the rear! Focus, we are on a mission!” Rex yelled over the comms and both fell silent…..for now.

  
Three days later, they are still on the planet, its still cold and there still is no sign of any Separatist activity. Well, there was, if you counted the empty Sep base they were currently taking shelter in. Uninhabited, that’s what they had said. Lies and slander!

  
Cody looked over his men once more, ignoring the cold slowly seeping into his suit. The attack from the group of snow monsters had been unexpected, but thankfully they had two Jedi with them. Some scraps on the armor, but each of his checks had shown no signs of blood on Waxer, Boil or Rex. Rex had a slight headache, but that’s what a guy gets when he tries to head-butt a snow monster. Obi-wan and Anakin were sitting by the entrance of their room, speaking softly. They were waiting for their ride to arrive, seeing as the mission had been a total bust. Cody could have told you that.

  
He knelt next to Rex and tapped the side of the guy’s helmet,” Hey, what’s your name?”

  
“My head just hurts, Cody, I am not concussed,” Rex growled.

  
“Does it look like I care? Name,” Cody sat back on his heels, waiting.

  
“Captain Rex of the 501st. My General is Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his padiwan is Ahsoka Tano. You are Commander Cody of the 212th. Your General is Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi. Along with us is Waxer and Boil, two scouts from the 212th. We are currently on the planet Hoth, which is the coldest planet in the entire universe. Anything else, sir?” Rex asked sarcastically.

  
“Nope,” Cody slapped the back of Rex’s head before he stood, looking over at the Jedi. “He’s not concussed.”

  
“Thank you, Cody,” Anakin laughed as Rex rubbed his head.

  
“He might be, now,” Waxer chuckled, nudging Boil. “What do you think?”

  
“I think the Commander needs to sit his ass down before I make him,” Boil looked pointedly at the man in question. “We are fine, Codes. You’re stressing Obi-wan out with all your pacing and checking and shit.”

  
“He is not stressing me out, he is making me concerned,” Obi-wan looked pointedly at Cody as well. “Your heater is damaged.”

  
“I’ll be fine,” Cody shrugged.

  
“Get over here and sit down,” Obi-wan’s voice dropped a few degrees. “You pacing is wasting your heat. And don’t argue with me.”

  
Cody sighed, but did as he was told. He sat down by Obi-wan, his shoulder pressed against the older man’s,” I was just worried.”

  
“I know, but you freezing isn’t going to help Rex either way,” Obi-wan replied softly. “We’re all cold on some level, but none of us are freezing and no one is dying. Please, Cody, just this once. Sit still.”

  
“Can you make that an order?” Cody huffed.

  
“I’ll do one better. Barriss says that if you don’t keep still,” Obi-wan let the sentence trail off. Cody knew all too well what was to follow, but neither really wanted anyone else knowing about the relationship between the Jedi Knight and Clone Commander.

  
“Not moving, got it,” Cody nodded. It wasn’t his fault it had been coded into his DNA to be a worry wart.

  
“Good. Anakin, go make sure your Captain isn’t concussed,” Obi-wan tried to keep the laugh out of his voice.

  
“Really? I thought Cody already clarified I’m not concussed!”


	4. D is for Drunk

D is for Drunk

Cody always hated getting "those" calls, especially when they came super early in the morning, a good five hours before he was suppose to get up. It wasn't too bad if they were on Courasant because the boys always went to the same bar and Cody and the barman, Ritz, had a pretty good relationship. When they were off in some other part of the galaxy and given time off, things got interesting. The worst one was when Obi-wan and himself had to talk a local king to not behead Anakin, Rex, Odds and Chopper. The most interesting was when Rex, Alpha, Gree and Bly had a drinking competition and then had ordered the barman to not call their generals. They eventually found out through Cody and some of the medics on the ship after the boys had their stomachs pumped. The entire time Cody sat there and listened to his fellow officers tell the most unrealistic and crazy stories about battles that he'd been a part of. Cody had called Ahsoka, who had told Anakin where she was going, who had told Obi-wan, Mace, Luminara and Plo. Cody had just sat back and watched in amusement as the Jedi tried to figure out what to do with the boys. Obi-wan had joined him and together they joked with the medics just loud enough for the others to hear. After that, Obi-wan had informed Cody how proud he was that his commander didn't get into trouble. Cody didn't mention the time he had Barriss pick him up from a club in Courasant's lower levels and stayed at her apartment till the end of his vacation just getting over his hangover.

Tonight wasn't completely different than all the other nights he'd gotten the calls except just three hours ago he'd crawled into bed with half his armor still on after a day that felt like hell. They were sitting in at a dock down on Ord Cestus just outside Chikatlik, the capital. They had a little time off after keeping the planet from falling into Confederacy hands, but it had come at a heavy price. Cody had spent the last three days or so fighting down here on the ground and then up on Separatist ships while Kenobi and Skywalker worked on taking out the long-range weapons from the inside. Their ship was getting a few minor repairs to make her space worthy once again, so Cody had put together a rotation for his me. Half would stay on board for patrols and the like while the other half had time off. At specified times, the groups would switch. It didn't take long for the other ships to do the same. After that had been completed, Cody had spent hours debriefing with the other Commanders and Generals, working on setting up planetary defenses for the time being till they pushed the Separatists farther out. Obi-wan had been pestering Cody all day since the battle ended to go see Meds, but the clone had stubbornly refused since his medic needed to focus on the severely injured, not a few scratches and bruises. And, ok, his right wrist was probably sprained, but he could live till the morning.

His comm. went off exactly three hours after he'd pulled of his chest plates and boots before falling face first on his bunk and passing out. Cody opened one eye and glared at it, daring it to vibrate again from its spot on his side table right by his chrono, which was flashing evilly at him. The comm. took the dare and vibrated again, adding a little ringing as though it was cackling. Cody sighed and reached out with his right hand only to hiss in pain. He glared down at his wrist till the comm. vibrated again and he rolled over and grabbed it with his left hand and hit the answer button, "Yeah?"

"Umm….is this Cody?" the girl sounded nervous. What had the men done now?"

"Sadly, yes. What'd they do now?" Cody sat up, glaring at his boots. He would change into civvies before going out, depending on the situation.

"Its not anything bad, really, its just that…well, they're really drunk and we have a no driving policy after 6 drinks," the girl stammered. Cody started mentally going through who it might be.

"Hold onto any keys or weapons they have. I will be there in an hour, but would you like me to send someone else till I can be there?"

"No, my brother and the other barkeep are here. They had me call cause they're busy keeping your guys entertained. You may want to bring one other person with you, though. They brought two speeders," she seemed to be relaxing.

"Alright, I will do that. Thanks for calling and I will pay for any damage they caused. How about their tabs?"

"The one dropped a bunch of credits when he got here, so that and the damages are already covered."

"Well, that's a first," Cody chuckled. "We should only be here at least one more day, so you may want to hold onto my number. Just call me for any of the soldiers till we leave."

"I can do that. I should go. You'll be here in an hour?"

"At the most. Thanks again," Cody hung up and sighed before getting up and pulling off the rest of his armor except his right wrist guard. He'd need help with that. He pulled on his civvies as well as a jacket, grabbed his comm. and his card to get access to one of the nicer transports that had actually seats and space to park landspeeders and headed for the medbay. Hopefully Meds was up cause Cody was going to need a lot of his hangover cure. He should probably also call Echo to get one of the larger bunkrooms set up. Meds was up, sitting at his desk near the door of the first ward. It was mostly empty now except for a few beds with curtains pulled around beds to give the occupants some privacy. He looked up as Cody entered and raised an eyebrow when he saw the wrist guard.

"What did you do?" he held out his hand and Cody sighed before sitting on the edge of the desk and holding out his wrist.

"I think I sprained it, but that's only part of why I'm here," Cody winced as Meds poked at the guard. The medic gave Cody a flat stare.

"How long has it been hurting?" he started digging through his drawers.

"Yesterday sometime," Cody shrugged, eyeing the cutters the doc produced. "I'm gonna need a new guard?"

"Better be happy it's just a new guard," Meds grumbled, carefully starting to cut the durasteel away from the fabric underneath.

"I'm not mad about needing a new guard," Cody huffed. "I was just wondering so I knew what form to fill out. If it were reparable, then I would have to fill out a completely different form. And since it's a completely new guard, I can add it to another requisitions form."

"Doesn't that sort of thinking hurt your head at all?" Meds chuckled.

"I'm only half awake right now. I wasn't even planning on coming in till around lunch tomorrow…today? Today, when Kenobi would come check on me around lunch. I'm supposed to be off duty," he grumbled.

"Then why are you awake and gracing my wards with your presence?" Meds pulled the durasteel away and started palpating the swollen wrist through the black fabric, determining if he could just pull it off or not.

"Got a call from a bar. Some of the guys are too drunk to drive back so I need to go get them. Needed another body," Cody watched what Meds was doing.

"Did you get the name of the bar?" Cody hadn't once and then spent three hours looking for a bar on Alderaan. Meds had been with and was the only one who knew about the incident and did not plan on letting it go, ever.

"I did my research. Chikatlik only has one bar," Cody smirked, then winced as Meds ripped the fabric off his wrist, revealing a purple and black, swollen wrist.

"Good for you, sir. Nothing is broken and I'm pretty sure nothing is fractured, but that will need x-rays to confirm, so that can wait. I'll just throw a splint on it and we can head out. I'll do a more thorough examination later," Meds started digging out the needed supplies. "How are we getting there?"

"We're taking one of the really nice transports so we can haul the speeders back as well," Cody pulled his card out of his pocket. "I figured anything else I'd have to let a Jedi know and I don't even know who's men I'm picking up."

"Well, as your doctor, when we get there I suggest two shots of whiskey for the pain," Meds smirked as he started wrapping the wrist. "You will thank me when we have to drag the boys out."

Cody ended up letting Meds drive since the doctor had rendered the commander's wrist useless for at least a week, depending on what he found later on. They found the Night Shade on the edge of the city, not too far from the spaceport and repair yards. Cody and Meds immediately loaded the speeders into the ship before heading inside. A few other people were inside, but the group they were looking for were towards the back of the room, laughing around a table. A girl was working at the bar and Cody made a beeline for her, Meds following. He sat down as she finished wiping down a glass, offering a shy smile, "Cody?"

"The one and only, ma'am," Cody nodded. "And this is my squad's medic, Meds. What have you got for me?"

"Here's all the keys and weapons we could find," she handed him a bag from under the counter. "The blondie told me not to call you and handed over his comm. when he gave us his blaster, so I just searched for a Cody."

"This happen often?" Cody chuckled as Meds sat, looking through the bag.

"Only during the harvest season when the teams come in on the weekends. We're used to it by now," she nodded. "Can I get you anything or do you want to head out?"

"He'll take two shots of whiskey," Meds spoke up, smiling at the girl. "Doctor's orders."

"He's had a hard day?" she giggled before pouring the shots.

"That and he's not driving," Meds chuckled. "Man doesn't know when to rest."

"When you're babysitting those guys, rest leaves your vocabulary fast," Cody threw back the first shot, looking the men over. He saw Rex right away, seeing as he was waving franticly at Cody. The commander waved back and Rex turned to the man next to him, talking animatedly. Odds was there, Gree, Alpha, Del, Fives, Chopper, Boil, Waxer, Bly and surprisingly Ahsoka and Barriss., "Did the girls drink?"

"They're sober enough, but they did have a few fruity drinks. The one in black suggested I call you saying she didn't feel comfortable driving back," the girl nodded and Cody smiled. Good old responsible Barriss.

"Ahsoka probably dragged her along," Meds nudged Cody. "Someone's going to have fun."

"We'll figure out which guys are too drunk to walk on their own and who can be of some help," Cody nodded, holding up his wrist. "I'll take the girls."

"Of course you would," Meds scoffed as Cody threw back the second shot before getting up, setting some credits on the counter. "For your troubles and the drinks."

"But they've already paid," the girl frowned.

"Think of it as a down payment for everyone else who'll be in here," Cody offered her a sad smile before heading over to the table, Meds following behind. Barriss must have sensed him because she turned around and smiled at him. He smiled back before looking everyone else over, "Party's over, boys."

"Cody!" Rex, Odds, Alpha, Chopper and Boil all said gleefully. Too drunk to walk group. Well, everyone but Odds. That man could just be his usual self for all he knew. Gree, Bly, Del, Fives and Waxer nodded back at them as they pushed their drinks away.

"Time to head back, boys," Meds headed over to Alpha, pulling him up onto unsteady legs.

"I can help Rex," Ahsoka stood and moved to help the drunk captain.

"Babe, I don't need no help," Rex slurred as he tried to stand. Ahsoka thankfully caught him.

"Thanks for watching them," Cody shook the other men's hands before focusing on his soldiers. Bly was helping Chopper while Waxer was leading Boil out. Fives and Del had Waxer between them, arms around each other's shoulders as they sauntered out. Del moved to help Meds while Barriss stood gracefully, moving to Cody's side.

"Thanks for coming," Barriss gave a small smile, letting Cody wrap an arm around her and lead her towards the door.

"I look forward to these trips," Cody smirked. "They are the highlight of my life."

"Hey, sweetheart, how about you leave that loser and come on over here. We can help you take a few layers off," someone called and Cody's hackles rose. Barriss wrapped an arm around him, looking up at him worriedly.

"Ignore them," she whispered.

"No one says that to a lady," Cody growled.

"Some people do. I'm used to it," she pulled him along.

"Oh come on, honey, let us show you a real time," another called and Cody stopped, turning around. Barriss grabbed his left arm and pulled, dragging him away as the men sitting at a nearby table laughed.

"Cody, leave it be," Barriss hissed.

"Let him go, baby. Those clones don't have nothin' underneath all that armor," the men were obviously drunk, which helped Cody bite his tongue, keeping some select works stuck in his throat. Barriss, on the other hand, had a few drinks in her and she did not appreciate her boyfriend (albeit a secret one) be told he had no balls.

"Excuse me?" Barriss stopped pulling Cody, a glare slowly forming on her face.

"There ain't nothin' there, sweetheart. No heart, no balls. Nothin' there to ride. Unlike us real men here," one man laughed. Worst mistake ever. Barriss had crossed over to him and punched him hard before Cody or the others could do anything. Cody rushed forward and grabbed Barriss around the waist, pulling her back away before she could really attack.

"He has more balls than you ever will, di'kut!" Barriss hissed, struggling against Cody. "And they are nicer looking than yours!"

Cody's face had turned red by that point, which earned him a laugh from the girl behind the bar, "Barriss, let's go. Meds is probably wondering where we are."

"I'm not done with him!" Barriss growled as Cody reached the door. She twisted out of his grip and turned to him, pulling him into a huge kiss, tongue and all. She pulled away, breathless and turned back to the men, "Now, that was a real good time. Goodbye," With that, Barriss dragged Cody out of the bar and towards the ship, the commander a little dazed from the kiss. Meds was waiting at the end of the ramp and raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"Where were you?" Meds looked them over.

"Some men in the bar were being pigs and I had to give them a lesson," Barriss let go of Cody at the end of the ramp and marched onto the ship. Cody just stood there, staring after her. Meds looked between her and Cody, eyes slowly getting higher.

"So, you and her?" Meds forced out.

"Yeah. Me and her," Cody nodded numbly. "She's drunk, right?"

"Probably. I don't know how alcohol affects force users," Meds blinked. "Did she?"

"Punched a guy and then kissed me. Like, "kissed me" kissed me," Cody looked at Meds.

"How did this happen?" Meds blinked again.

"Some guys were being jerks. Said some stuff about me," Cody blinked as well.

"And she, what, stood up for your honor? Man, you are one lucky dog," Meds smiled. "Kenobi know?"

"Yup, he does. Uses it against me all the time," Cody headed up the ramp. "Come on, we need to get back before someone notices."

"So wait, how long has this been going on?"


	5. E is for Eaten

There was something about almost every plausible situation a clone or squad could get into in a special manual given to each clone at the same time he is given his assignment. Sith Lords, different alien cultures, slavers, plagues, the Force, exploding mushrooms, giant butterflies and blue skinned demons were all in there, but, Cody reflected, there was nothing in there in there about being eaten whole, along with your general, by a giant slug thing. They'd been on their way to check up on a base when their ship had been ambushed by Ventress and driven in to an asteroid field. Cody, ever unlucky, had been flying, which was hard enough on a good day. Now he was forced to dodge asteroids, blaster fire and the unwanted and unhelpful tips of his Jedi General.

"Kenobi, shut up!" Cody growled as the left wing of their shuttle clipped an asteroid, causing the ship to shudder. "You are not helping!"

"Cody, watch out!" Obi-wan reached over, jerking the controls as out of nowhere, a giant slug thing burst from an asteroid, biting their ship. Cody could see the look of pure glee on Ventress' face as she watched them be pulled inside the asteroid in his mind's eye as he unsuccessfully tried to free them from the jaws of the monster. It released them briefly only to wrap its massive mouth completely around them and swallow their ship whole. Now they sat in what could only be assumed a stomach, Cody's head down on the unresponsive controls as Obi-wan tried to hale anyone.

"Can't you use the Force to contact them?" Cody grumbled. Things had been looking up since Hoth. Obi-wan and him had been set to assess different outposts, since there was a lull in the fighting. Now….now they were being digested by a giant slug thing.

"Cody, if I did anything the easy way, would any of our missions be any fun?" Obi-wan smiled a little. "I was getting there, I just wanted to be sure the comms didn't work. Anything on your end?"

"I think the stomach acid is eating through everything," Cody huffed. "I got the shields up before I lost control, but I have no idea how long they'll hold now."

"Please tell me you are not bored?" Obi-wan raised an eyebrow at his commander, a little amused.

"No, I am not bored. I am currently, in my head, writing a new section for the emergency situations manual. I just realized that we had nothing on getting eaten," Cody sat up and pulled his helmet off, looking at Obi-wan. "And you know I'm being serious."

"You do take your manuals very seriously," Obi-wan stood, stretching. "I want to take a look outside before I contact any of the Jedi, see what we have here."

"What we have is a giant slug stomach that is digesting us," Cody grumbled, pulling his helmet back on and standing.

"Those are the basics. The more detail the better," Obi-wan shrugged. "Plus, I believe this will help your new section for your manual."

"You're mocking the manuals," Cody growled. "You know better than to mock the manuals."

"I, for one, am finding a lot of humor in our situation," Obi-wan smiled as he lowered the ramp while slipping on an oxygen mask and goggles. "I've never been eaten before."

"Ok, you know what? Next time we fly, you are pilot. Laugh at that," Cody huffed as he headed down the ramp, looking around. They were surrounded by brownish pink matter. To Cody, the walls seemed to move, push and stretch. He eyed the ground below him warily, "Wanna draw straws?"

"Honestly, Cody, what could happen?" Obi-wan scoffed as he stepped onto the brown stuff. A muffled roar echoed around them and Cody pulled Obi-wan back.

"A lot could happen," Cody glared at Obi-wan from under his helmet. "Now you've doomed us."

"Just because I asked what more could happen?" Obi-wan laughed, shaking his head.

"Karma's a bitch, sir," Cody shrugged before tensing as a high pitched screech echoed towards them from farther down the dark tunnel/inside of a slug. "You are pure evil, that's what you are."

"Its nothing," Obi-wan didn't sound sure as he pulled out his lightsaber." Absolutely nothing."

"Maybe you should shut up?" Cody turned on his headlights, giving them more space to see. Something was slithering towards them, a darker shade of brown than the walls. "Don't move?"

"Maybe we should get back inside?" Obi-wan glanced at Cody and then shoved him down as he ignited his lightsaber. He slashed and onto the ramp fell two halves of a writhing brown slug.

"The acid is eating through the ramp," from his spot on the ground, Cody kicked the slug off the ramp. Where it had been were two dent-like acid burns. A louder screech sounded and the brown thing coming towards them jumped at them. Cody fired at it and it fell to the ground, squealing in pain.

"There's more of them," Obi-wan sliced another one in half as more appeared down the tunnel and a few slithered around from the front of the ship.

"You just had to go outside!" Cody growled, standing and firing.

"I thought it would be best to assess the situation properly," Obi-wan snapped back.

"Yeah, well, this situation can be shoved up your kriffing sith spawn!" Cody yelped, falling back. Obi-wan looked to see one of the slugs attached to Cody's leg. He flicked his blade at it, cutting as close to Cody's leg as he dared. The head part stayed attached as Cody fired at a few more, cursing under his breath, "They have really sharp teeth."

"Is there any acid?" Obi-wan focused on keeping the slugs away.

"A little where the skin is in contact with my armor," Cody started to pull himself up the ramp. "We gotta get out of here."

"Agreed," Obi-wan nodded before pushing forward with both hands, releasing a massive Force push that threw the slugs away from them and the ship. He turned and grabbed Cody under the arms, pulling him up the ramp. He hit the button to close the ramp before turning back to Cody, kneeling by his commander, "We need to get that off of you."

"Yeah, its starting to burn," Cody hissed, his back pressed up against the side of the ship. "Any ideas?"

"One and it will hurt," Obi-wan reached out with a hand, keeping it just a little ways away from the slug head. He closed his eyes, reaching out with the Force to feel the teeth in Cody's leg. Slowly, carefully, he used the Force to pull the mouth apart, pulling the teeth out of Cody's leg. For his part, Cody didn't make a noise, but his fists were clenched tight. As soon as Obi-wan sensed that all the teeth were out of Cody's leg, he pulled the head away and opened his eyes, looking over the head floating in the air between them, "They do have teeth."

"Seriously? That's all you have to say?" Cody growled, pulling off his helmet and throwing it aside as Obi-wan dropped the head into a canister of a clear liquid.

"For now," Obi-wan smirked as he focused back on Cody's leg. Around where the slug had bitten Cody the armor was melted, "How bad is it?"

"A little melted through to my skin, but only a little," Cody reached down and started taking off the leg plate. "Grab the kit?"

"How badly does it hurt?" Obi-wan opened the cabinet next to him and pulled out a med kit as Cody set the plating away.

"I don't think I'll be walking for a while," Cody looked up at Obi-wan. Obi-wan searched his face to make sure he was telling the truth before nodding and ripping the body glove away from Cody's leg, getting a good look at the bite. From what he could see, the slug had bitten through the skin and muscle and maybe scrapped the bone. The burns looked painful, to put it nicely. A ring was burned around the bite, already blistering. Obi-wan quickly cleaned the wound before wrapping the leg in bacta patches and gauze. He looked up at Cody.

"How about we try just blasting out of here?" Obi-wan sat back, waiting for Cody's answer.

"You're flying," Cody held up a hand. "And writing my report."

"I think that's fair enough," Obi-wan stood and pulled Cody up, supporting him as they headed back into the cockpit. Obi-wan looked over the controls thoughtfully as Cody strapped into the copilot's seat, "I think I can shock the system and get her started."

"Why are you telling and not doing?" Cody smirked at the Jedi.

"You find this situation amusing now?" Obi-wan raised an eyebrow as he sent a small spark of electricity into the controls, causing the ship to shutter than roar to life.

"Yeah, I do. You have to explain to Barriss, Meds and the council how you and your commander got eaten by a giant slug," Cody chuckled. "And I just get to sit back and write one little section in a manual."

"Oh, the irony," Obi-wan shook his head as he angled them down the tunnel, hoping it was the right way.

"Weapons armed," Cody flicked a few switches before focusing on a few screens. "We may get out of here, but probably not much farther."

"We should be able to use the comms by then. Its not a problem," Obi-wan shrugged as he brought them around a corner. Up ahead was definitely a set of very large teeth. They could just see space through a few gapes, "Fire whenever you're ready."

"My pleasure," Cody hit a button and half of their proton torpedoes raced forward towards the wall of teeth. Obi-wan titled the ship a little as the world in front of them exploded. They raced through the fireball into real space. Obi-wan quickly angled them away from the asteroid and out of the asteroid field. Just as they passed the last asteroid, the ship gave a pathetic whine and then the engines fell silent before all the lights turned off. Obi-wan turned to Cody as emergency power turned on, smirking. Cody crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow, "Keep those smug Jedi thoughts to yourself."

"I was just going to say that we've just done something no one else has done, "Obi-wan focused on the comms, smiling brightly. "We can now say we've been eaten by a giant slug."

"Oh, shut up."


	6. F is for Forgiven

*Warning-I reserve the right as a fanfiction writer to alter parts of my chosen fandom while still respecting the original plot. George Lucas owns all of the characters and the galaxy my stories use, I'm just taking a few parts and twisting them. If this bothers anyone, from this point on stop reading this story. I understand the reasons behind Order 66, but that does not mean some of us don't dream of one or two small points changing. This is how I would change it, but the George Lucas universe is just fine the way it is. I am warning you so you understand that as much as I appreciate all the comments I have received, I felt that some of my readers need to be reminded that this is fanfiction, a take on a fictional or nonfictional piece by a fan.*

F is for Forgiveness

*7 years after Order 66*

"I remember the day my best friend shot me in the chest…" the story started the same way every time Obi-wan told it. It always did. He never changed the beginning because it was the same thought that went through his head when the event happened.

He'd been up in the upper galleries of Pau City on Utapau, working on forcing back what was left of the droid army there. He'd sensed Cody's arrival, but kept fighting. It wasn't uncommon for Cody to change his mind on decisions and as soon as Cody said he would say he was going to stay by the guns, Obi-wan knew Cody would be up in the front lines not too long after he arrived there himself. He sensed a few other clones with Cody as well, but something was off about them, something cold. They were part of the newest group from Kamino, one of the "rushed" batches that were being sent out under trained and inflexible in battle. Cody hadn't liked them anymore than Obi-wan, but they'd needed the men for this battle. Something just never did feel right about them.

"When you're placed into situations Cody and I were placed in, you come to have a strong sense of trust in each other," Obi-wan looked around at the padiwan's and young clones gathered round. Since Order 66, the Temple had aided in ending the cloning on Kamino and giving the remaining clones a place in society. Obi-wan now spent his days teaching history to padiwan's, younglings, and some of the last clones from Kamino. This group was one of his oldest and he decided it was time to learn how the Great War ended. When he reached this part in his teachings, he always started with this story, "No matter what they do, you know that they have your back and will do anything to make sure you get out of that situation with as minimal damage as possible. Sometimes that requires some risky maneuvers on someone's part, though. And many times it requires leaving out information to protect the other person. So was the case when Commander Cody shot me."

Cody had moved so he was right behind Obi-wan, providing covering fire, but in the Force Cody felt tired, worn out, "Sir?"

The last of the droids Obi-wan was fighting fell beneath his blade and Obi-wan turned to face Cody, "Yes?"

Cody was standing there, blaster pointed at Obi-wan's chest. Behind him the others were all aiming their blasters at the Jedi General. Obi-wan blinked, confused before focusing back on Cody, who shook his head slightly, "I'm sorry, sir."

With that, Cody squeezed the trigger and Obi-wan felt the bolt burn through his chest, driving him backwards as he watched Cody spin around and open fire on the other clones as they opened fire on Obi-wan. The seconds between Cody's shot and the others following fire gave Obi-wan enough time to get his lightsaber up and direct the blaster bolts back at the clones. A few fell before they realized they'd been tricked and a few adjusted to fire at the clone commander, but neither commander nor general slowed.

"He had shot me through my right shoulder, in the right spot to force me back, away from where the clones had been aiming. Due to their lack of training, these newer clones were more dependent on orders, but also slower to react. Cody used this to his advantage, taking out a few before they realized that the commander was not following orders. What I did not know was at the same time we were waging our own war against the rookies, all across the city my men were working on subduing the other squads of rookies, as ordered by my friend. Trust. That's what saved me that day. That's what saved all of us."

Even though the newer clones lacked the training their older brothers had, they were still newer versions of the typical clone trooper. Newer programming, fresher bodies, which all came down to although they reacted slower, they were faster than Cody. Nowhere near as good a shot as him, but faster, and that's what did Cody in at the end. One of the rookies got a lucky shot in, clipping Cody's hip, which threw him off balance, and that was all the time the others needed. Obi-wan watched as two of the last five remaining clones placed two shots a piece into the commander, dropping him in an instant. Their mistake was taking their focus off of Cody. You never ignore Cody unless you are sure he's done fighting. Obi-wan had learned that lesson many times on the sparring mat and now it would be the last lesson the rookies learned.

"One of Cody's finer features was his pain tolerance. Being my commander meant that we were often the targets of many different factions of the war. We've battled all different sorts in all different kinds of battlefields and we've faced pains none of you could imagine. The worst, you come to realize, depends on the person feeling the pain. A few blaster bolts, at the time, rarely slowed Cody or myself down. The others, however, didn't know this."

Obi-wan took down three of the clones with a few well deflected bolts, but it was Cody who took down the last two. While they were focused on Obi-wan, Cody had shifted his blaster around enough so he could aim from where he was laying. He fired only two shots, one each into the middle of the troopers' heads. An eerie silence fell over the tunnel after the final shots. It seemed to grow colder at that point as Obi-wan turned off his lightsaber and checked his shoulder. It was bleeding, but it wasn't life threatening. He looked to where Cody was laying and froze. The commander had not moved, his blaster lying limply in one hand. Obi-wan quickly rushed over, kneeling by his friend's side, heart racing as he took in the two holes in Cody's chest, the one in his leg and the one in Cody's arm, "Cody?"

"Sir," Cody's voice was soft, strained and Obi-wan quickly pulled off his helmet. Cody's normal calm and stoic face was twisted in pain, his lips a thin line as his nose flared, trying to suck in air with as little pain as possible, "You got…got the p-plan."

"Where does it hurt most, Cody?" Obi-wan started un-strapping the chest armor, knowing that was the more serious area. The leg wound was through his calf while the arm wound was through the bicep, but the chest…

"I'm….'m sorry….for shooting…had..had to…66," Cody was breathing in short little gasps as Obi-wan pulled off the chest plate. Blood was welling up from a hole in his right shoulder and a hole just below his ribcage on his left side. He shrugged off his chest armor and pulled off his outer tunic before pressing it against Cody's chest, thinking of where his comm. would be.

"Now's not the time, Cody. Save it for later, ok?" Obi-wan looked down at his commander. "You will be fine. You understand?"

"I…I don't think…not this…..time….." Cody winced as Obi-wan pulled out his comm. "I'm…I'm sorry…failed….you."

"Never, Cody, never," Obi-wan opened up a link to anyone listening. "I need a medical unit up to the northern gallery asap. The commander is down with severe chest wounds."

"I'm on my way with Meds," Odds answered, sounding breathless. "The others are rounding up the last of the rookies."

"Do you hear that, Cody? Meds is on his way," Obi-wan kept the link open, looking down at Cody.

"66…Palpatine….kill Jedi…" Cody was struggling to speak, but those words chilled Obi-wan to his very core.

"Sir, Palpatine ordered the execution of Order 66, the destruction of the Jedi Order," Odds supplied over the comm. "We could've ignored it, but the rookies made it difficult. Basically, we were ordered to kill you."

"At that point, any Jedi would be horrified to learn that the men he had been working with for years had been trained to kill their Jedi General. For a few seconds, I was angry that Cody or Odds or Meds or Echo had never mentioned this to me. But, think, young ones. What do you do when you learn something unpleasant? Do you not try to forget it, to pretend it never existed? That is what my men did and for that I am forever thankful. However, I didn't have time to celebrate the loyalty of my men because right before my eyes I was watching one of my closest friends slipping from this universe."

Cody was barely breathing at this point, though, and Obi-wan didn't focus on this news, " Cody? Are you still with me?"

"Sorry…" Cody gasped out. "I didn….didn wan…..urt you….please…..forgi….me….."

"Cody, you did nothing wrong. You saved me," Obi-wan watched in horror as Cody's eyes slipped close. "Cody, open your eyes. You cannot die on me. That is an order."

"We're almost there," Meds barked over the comm.

"Be here now," Obi-wan growled. "Cody, don't you dare quit on me. What is our squad motto?"

"Nev….surrend….er," Cody whispered, a little blood trickling out of the side of his mouth. "Nev….."

"Never surrender, Cody. Do not give up on me," Obi-wan pleaded.

"Forgive….me…." Cody forced his eyes open. "Please…."

"For what? You did nothing wrong. There is nothing to be forgiven," Obi-wan kept his hands planted on Cody's chest when it hit him. "Cody, you were never going to kill me. You aren't like the rookies. You fought the order. You saved me."

"Please…." Cody whimpered as his eyes slipped close again.

"Cody, no! No, do not leave me, Cody. Don't. Cody? No, breath!" Obi-wan watched in horror as Cody's chest fell and never rose. "Cody!"

"I'm here," Meds yelled as he jumped out of a landspeeder before it came to a stop, falling to his knees next to Cody, dropping his pack at his side. He pressed a hand to Cody's neck, "Come on, boss. Don't stop fighting now. ODDS! I need…."

"At that point, I admit, I zoned out. I sat back, staring at my hands covered in Cody's blood, then at his still body and it was as though my brain had been shut off. Cody, Commander Cody, CC-2224, Commander of the 212th, my commander, my friend…..was dead. I had watched him die. It was not the first time I'd watched someone die, but for some reason this was different. We'd survived the entire war together, since I was cleared after Geonosis till now and here he was, dead. It was a shock for me, a major shock, more so even than when my Master had died. Qui-gon was always reminding me that at some point he would leave me, so I was somewhat prepared when he was killed. It hurt, but I was able to at least control myself somewhat. But with Cody…I had always assumed he would be there, but now he was gone, " Obi-wan looked the children in the eyes. "The Jedi used to teach that attachment was a dangerous path to follow. Any form of attachment. But here I was and here I am, telling you that those closest to you make you the person who you are. And with them and the Force with you, anything is possible. That, if you get anything from my lessons, is the most important lesson I will ever teach."

"But, Master," one of the little girls, trying to wipe away her tears, spoke up. "Cody's dead. Weren't you sad?"

"I said he had died. I did not say he was dead," Obi-wan gave a knowing smile. "I have told you all how proficient Meds is in the art of medical procedures. This moment, up in the galleries of Pau City, was one of his finest. Cody was dead for three minutes before Meds revived him with a well aimed fist to the middle of Cody's chest. The commander was not safe yet, but he was breathing and that's all the footing we needed."

"Damn it, Cody!" Meds pleaded, pressing down on Cody's chest. "Breath!"

"He can't….he's not…."Obi-wan stared down at his hands, horrified at all the blood. Odds had stopped moving from where he had been unloading equipment from the speeder, eyes wide as he stared over at them.

"No, he is NOT!" with that, Meds slammed his fist into Cody's chest and Cody jerked upwards, coughing and gasping, his face twisting in pain. All three sat there staring at him until Cody started to clutch at his chest. Meds immediately started moving, working on stopping the blood and order Odds to place a mask on Cody. Obi-wan just took Cody's hand, gripping it, giving the clone a lifeline.

"Cody spent two days in a coma and then spent weeks recovering from his chest wounds. Somehow, the bolts missed his lungs, but the one nicked his stomach. Barriss, the young Jedi Knight of Luminara Unduli, never left his side, using her Force abilities to help him heal. I spent my time between his bedside and the Temple, working on helping the galaxy reach peace for the time being," Obi-wan sat back, hands in his lap. "To Palpatine, Order 66 was suppose to be the turning point in his plan to take over the galaxy, to creating his Empire. He underestimated, like so many of us, the simple loyalty of the men I now know as brothers."

"Did you ever forgive Cody?" one little boy asked, a clone. "I mean, even though he never acted on the order, he must've thought of doing it."

"I only ever forgave him for dying on me. In my mind, I never doubted that Cody would have my back," Obi-wan smiled a little. "That is all for today."

As the students were leaving, the boy hesitated, looking back at Obi-wan, "Where is Cody now?"

"He's somewhere on Courasant," Obi-wan gave a knowing smile. "Waiting for a certain General to get on his ship so they can go off and save the galaxy one more time."


	7. G is for Grief

Clones weren’t suppose to have emotions. Said so in the handbook. Good thing Cody knew the handbook lied more often than not.

Jedi were nothing more than your superior officers. Another lie.

Clones can’t love. Cody was living proof of that lie.

Clones can’t have families. Tell that to his men.

Clones are replaceable. Kenobi had taken to hitting him every time he quoted that line, even when he had a concussion.

One thing the handbook didn’t lie about was loss. It happened, all the time. Even if you didn’t want it.

He never wanted to fall in love with him either, but that didn’t change anything now did it? He had loved him and now he was gone. And he was never coming back. And Cody didn’t know how to deal with that. He had killed Kenobi, had wiped him from the face of the universe and now he had to live with it. Why had he done it? A few words spoken from Sidious and suddenly he was killing the man who knew him the best, who cared for him, who had been there for him through everything. The worst part? He hadn’t told the Jedi his true feelings. He’d had many chances, but he had avoided every single one of them.

There was nothing in the handbook about what he was supposed to do now. Years after Order 66 found Cody sitting in an almost empty bar on some outer rim planet, honorably discharged after Vader had had enough of him. Down to one good leg, his one eye iffy at best, battered and bruised beyond belief and feeling far older than he should be, Cody wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

There was a lot he could do, but not much he wanted to do. For now he was content to sit in this crappy bar and figure out what he had been ignoring for the past few years. Ignoring the emotions and memories. Because sometimes it was easy to ignore everything, but it wasn’t always the best plan.

Cody had accepted his role in everything over time. He’d hated himself for a while after, realizing what he had done, what he had ended and what he had created. He’d let himself be manipulated to kill, to destroy and torture and end life. He’d let it happen, even though at one point in his very short life he was fighting to preserve the very galaxy he was trying to end. He knew that he needed to forgive himself, but some things he was never going to forgive himself over.

For starters, killing Obi-wan. Killing the man that he had come to realized he had loved. Loved with his entire being. He had let a few words change all that. A few words that had awoken something deep in his mind, overpowering all rational thought and destroying something that could never be now.

Secondly, for abandoning his men. After Order 66, he had severed all ties with his men. He had done it for their own good, but he still hated himself for it. Any of his men who had stayed with him he had treated as scum, as everyday people. They deserved better, but he couldn’t give them better. If he had, they would be dead, just like everyone else. The majority of his brothers had deserted. The ones that had stayed were either too far gone to care anymore or stayed because some one had to stand between the Empire and their brothers out in the universe.

Lastly, he could never forgive himself for being a coward. He should’ve told Obi-wan his true feelings. He should’ve told his men how he really felt about all of them. He should’ve forced Rex to confront Anakin when his brother had come to him about his General. He was a coward and he knew it.

Right now was not the time for self-loathing though. He had come to this particular bar for a reason. All he had to his name right now was the scrap heap of a freighter he’d gotten with the money he’d made off the ship the Navy had given him. It had a temperament, but he liked it, her. Like her. Big enough to look intimidating, small enough for him to handle on his own. Inside, she held the life he had pieced together in the last month. New armor, a few new prosthetics, weapons of all sorts, and supplies needed for everyday life. He’d been floating around, trying to figure out life when he’d realized what system he’d flown to and couldn’t help but laugh. Of course he would end up here, of all places. He gotten permission to land and headed straight for the bar. This bar.

A little place called Myrtle’s Cantina on this god forsaken planet in the backwater system. A good place to start new, start fresh. And he was going to, once he was done here.

He picked up one of the shot glasses arranged in a line in front of him and downed it, feeling the whiskey burn as it slid down his throat. To Ghost Squad.

“Who ya mourning?” the barkeep had asked as soon as he had ordered the six shots of Corelian whiskey.

“Some old friends,” Cody had shot back, voice gruff from lack of use. This was his mission, to properly mourn what he had been denying for years and years. This was his time to grieve, to let go of the past and try to move on.

He picked up the next shot. To the Old Republic. To Rex and Ahsoka. To Mace, Alpha, Barriss, 99, Luminara, Gree, Ayala, Bly, Porter, Kota and all the people who had been part of the extended family. To his boys; Meds, Echo, Fives, Waxer, Boil, and Oddball.

He picked up the last glass and stared into the brown depths before him. There was no easy way to do this. He wasn’t just letting Obi-wan go with this, it would never be that easy. No, he was just letting that being go. No more haunting his dreams, his life. He was going to let Obi-wan’s soul rest and go out and live his life. He tilted his head back, downing the glass easily. He focused on the burning in his throat over the few tears that slipped down his face. Another day, another time he would come back. Then, he would be celebrating his life. He set the last glass down and set a few credits on the counter before taking up his cane and making his way out of the bar, never looking back. 


	8. H is for Help

Cody made his way down the street. It was almost a year since he had visited Myrtle’s Bar and he’d made a name for himself since then. He was known for getting people into and out of areas most times they couldn’t. With the right money, Cody would do it easily. He never checked papers, didn’t need the proper forms, rarely asked questions. You needed to get through an Imperial checkpoint without being noticed by the Imperials? You looked for a man named Ghent. Walked with a limp, scruffy black hair and beard with a little grey peppered in. His most defining feature, however, was a scar that curved around his left eye.

Some people had approached him to carry something other than living for them or even transport the living that were used in slavery and what not. Cody made it very clear with his words and his pistol that he only dealt with free, living beings of any race or gender. He didn’t care what they were or who they were. As long as they paid him, he was fine with it.

Today, Cody found himself on Naboo, enjoying the seasonal weather. There was a nice cool breeze blowing through the streets of the Keren. Located in the Western Great Grass Plains near the Northern Sea, Keren was a bustling starport, traders mingling with travels with an ease that made Cody himself uneasy. He’d gotten a few decent contracts out of Keren or into it, so he knew he could get money here. He’d avoided Naboo for a few months, though. He hadn’t wanted to become a too familiar face in the area.

Cody wasn’t a wanted man, per say, but he wasn’t doing a lot of legal activities since he’d been let go from the military. Better to be safe than sorry, right? Some of his passengers were a little on the criminal side and no one could deny that the _Negotiator_ was well armed. Well, those who knew anything about the _Negotiator_ , that is.

Cody hadn’t taken a contract in the week he’d been here. It was sort of a mini vacation for himself. Naboo had quite a few good memories and sometimes he just felt the need to re-explore them. So that was what he had been doing, but now he needed to start making money again. He’d stopped by the bar earlier and his contact there had someone had been asking about him, someone who needed to get off planet with as few problems as possible. Sounded like it would be a very, very, very big paycheck if his contact knew anything about it.

So Cody was making his way back to the _Negotiator_ , leaning on his cane as his leg complained of over use. Ok so yeah he’d been walking a lot lately and not using the correct leg tended to cause what was left of his leg to seize up just a bit. The doctors had fixed his leg, but they weren’t really invested in a long-term solution. It was cheaper to buy legs that eased the strain versus trying to find a doctor to not only reverse the original damage but all the damage he’d added onto the stump as the years passed. Now, he had a special storage room on the ship that held all the legs he’d bought over the years. No one but him had ever been it.

He didn’t notice the teenagers giving him cruel looks as he bypassed a market near the entrance to his docking bay. He just focused on putting one foot in front of the other and getting to his docking bay so he could rest up before meeting the new clients. He didn’t see the gang of young boys move away from the girls they were trying to impress. He didn’t notice them set up positions around them, eyes darting from each other, daring each other. He didn’t pay much attention to the giggles coming from the girls as they watched the boys set up their devious plan. He didn’t notice the group deeper in the market take notice of the situation.

He was only a few feet from his entrance before one boy dashed forward and knocked his cane aside before skipping out of reach. The unexpected removal of his cane caused Cody to lose his balance. He tried to correct it by catching himself on his bad leg, but it was no use. The strain was too much and his knee buckled, sending him crashing to the ground. He caught himself just in time so his head didn’t smash into the ground, but that didn’t stop the pain shooting up his leg.

He didn’t cry out, had been trained not to make a sound. He would not acknowledge the pain till he was alone. Acknowledging the pain would be giving the enemy a victory. These kids thought they were funny for beating on a cripple? The girls sure thought the boys were, but they weren’t. They were just proving they could take on people “weaker” than them. He pulled his cane back in close, pushing himself up, not looking at anything or anyone.

Cody was surprised when a pair of hands hooked themselves under his armpits, “Here, let me help you up.”

Before he could answer, Cody was being eased up into a standing position, the person shifting their hands so that one was bracing Cody’s waist while the other gripped his bicep, “Easy there, I got ya.”

“Thank you,” Cody got his cane firmly gripped in his hand, shifting his weight onto it. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I didn’t have to, but someone should,” the person shifted around, hand letting go of his waist while the other shifted up to his shoulder. Cody could now see it was a human male, early 40s maybe. Brown hair and beard were peppered with grey while calm blue eyes laughing back at him. Oh….well then.

“Are you ok?” the man, the very familiar looking man who Cody was not going to acknowledge here and now seeing as the familiarity was connected to a dead man, looked him over. “My friends are taking care of the children.”

“Let them be. They’ll learn one day. Most of the boys will be picked up to served, the girls will become toys for the soldiers who come for the boys,” Cody shifted out from under the man’s grip, moving closer to the door of his docking bay. “Is there anyway I can pay you back?”

“You really don’t have to,” the man laughed. “Well, there is one thing.”

“Name it,” Cody really, really needed to leave the market before his will cracked and he said what was trying to jump out of him.

“We’re looking for the owner of the ship within the docking bay behind you,” the man smiled a little, gesturing to a small knot of people standing near a stall not too far away, trying to look busy. “We were told he could get us off planet. A man named Ghent?”

“It just so happens my name is Ghent and I own the ship inside,” Cody kept his voice level while his mind screamed and ranted and raved. This man could not be serious! After feeling like he had every thing figured out, the universe seemed to have other plans.

“Maybe you can help me and my friends out, then?” the man shoved his hands into his pockets. “We are willing to pay anything.”

“Well then,” Cody should say no, should say that he already had passengers, should do anything at all. “I just so happen to be looking to head off world soon. Welcome aboard…?”

“Obi-wan,” the man held out his hand, smiling. “But most call me Ben Kenobi now a days.”

Cody had to swallow around a lump in his throat as he gripped Obi-wan’s hand, “That’s quite a name. Sounds like a tale comes with it.”

“It’s a long trip to where we need to go. I’m willing to share mine if you share yours, Ghent,” Obi-wan stared straight into his eyes.

“Its Cody,” Cody let go of Obi-wan’s hand and turned to the door of his docking bay. “Be ready to go in one hour.”

His life was completely and truly messed up.

 

 

 


	9. I is for Instrument Failure

The alarms were what woke Cody. With the way the ship was shaking, he was surprised that that hadn’t woken him. Instead it was the alarms coming from the panel by his head, as well as flashing lights indicating where there was a problem. Three days into this voyage and Cody was ready to be rid of his passengers, even though he hadn’t even seen them since they boarded. So yeah, he was using the lockdown procedure he’d installed to keep his passengers all in one place. Could you blame him? For the first time in almost ten years, he was seeing faces he had accepted he would never see again. The dead were walking and he did not like it. He might also be hiding from them because he was a coward and right now he was hoping they just figured he was a pilot who looked kinda like a clone but wasn’t a clone. He knew he felt different in the Force, had been told by a few Force users he’d met who knew him. He wasn’t “Cody” in the Force anymore. He was, but he wasn’t. He didn’t get it, but it just was.

So keeping not only Obi-wan, but a few others who had their faces covered, away from had been the first thing Cody had done. Second, he had plotted their course from Naboo to Utapau. Utapau…he didn’t want to go there, but it was good money and…. and Obi-wan had asked. Obi-wan had offered a decent sum at the beginning and more on delivery and it was Obi-wan. The man Cody had fallen in loved with and buried over a year ago over a glass of whiskey. The Universe hated him so much right now.

He slapped his palm against the display, silencing the alarms, before rolling over and sitting up in his bunk. He grabbed the closet leg and quickly strapped it on. The leg he kept by the bed was one of his newest. It was made for ease of use, so strapping on and running around in it was a cinch. Made good use of it for times like this when the _Negotiator_ decided to be cranky. This was why you never trusted an astromech to keep your ship running after she decides she wants to burn out important parts of the hyperdrive. Thankfully he had spares, but really crappy spares because used parts are cheaper than new and work just as well….most of the time.

Cody didn’t bother pulling on a shirt, just headed straight for his cockpit. Chipper was an R4 model and not looking the greatest. The two of them had been through a lot and Cody wasn’t going to scrap her anytime soon either. She and the ship worked well together….most of the time, “Talk to me, Chips. What’s going now?”

As he sat down, Chipper filled his screen with readouts. Cody skimmed it quickly before swearing. At the pace Cody had set after dropping out of hyperspace the last time, they should be arriving at Utapau in about 4 hours. Seems like one of the main valves was failing. He couldn’t stay in hyperspace like this for much longer or risk be stranded in the middle of no where, “Great. Chipper, prepare to pull us out of hyperspace. Hopefully I can just replace the valve and be on our way. Seriously, didn’t I just replace it?”

Chipper mumbled for her spot near the copilots seat and Cody chuckled as he opened a line back to his passengers, “This is your captain speaking. Just letting you know we will be dropping out of hyperspace for a bit of repair work. We’ll be back on course in hopefully within the hour.”

He cut the line and grabbed the controls. Coming out of hyperspace was smooth, as smooth as she got. Barely any bumps. Cody was giving himself props when his proximity alarm went off, “Holy Sith Spawn! Chipper, shields now!”

Chipper wailed as she did what she was told while Cody banked hard, avoiding the cruiser in front of him by just meters. Not just any cruiser, either. Nope, this was a clone war era cruiser. Cody would know that design anywhere, “Kriffing Sith Spawn! They planned this! They wrecked my ship!”

“We honestly didn’t mean to,” that all too familiar voice spoke up from behind him and Cody just barely resisted turning around. “Its nothing that won’t be easily fixed. You’re very persistant.”

“I believe I told all the passengers to stay in their quarters until we arrived at our destination,” Cody growled, angling his ship down as a squadron of fighters roared over head.

“I suggest you don’t try to run. Our friends won’t take very kindly to that and I do so like this ship. Clever name, by the way, where’d you pick it up?” Obi-wan sat down in the copilot’s seat. “And you didn’t so much as tell as you locked us up.”

“I’ve learned not to trust my passengers. Wonder why,” Cody shot him the briefest of glares as he took in his situation. Two cruisers, one destroyer-class and a few squadrons of fighters were boxing him in. He swore violently as he swung the _Negotiator_ around so she was facing the destroyer and pulled her up.

“Good choice,” Obi-wan smirked at him. “Things could have gone differently.”

“How so?” Cody glared at him as Chipper informed him that a tracker beam had a hold of them and were pulling them onboard the destroyer.

“Well, for starters, your name? Your real name, Commander,” Obi-wan’s eyes hardened. “We’ve been tracking you for a while and I must say, I am surprised. You’ve evaded us for a very long time.”

“Who is us?” Cody swung his chair around so he was facing Obi-wan. “And I’m not that man anymore.”

“Why don’t I believe that? Oh yes, because you tried to kill me!” Obi-wan snapped, standing.

“And seeing as you are in the company of at least three clones, you’ll know why it wasn’t my fault!” Cody snapped back. “But hey, go ahead, kill me if it makes you feel better!”

“You’ve already tried. Why should I succeed where you failed?” Obi-wan’s statement was spoken softly and caught Cody off guard. “Like I said, we’ve been tracking you. I’d like to hear the story behind the leg and the scars, Commander.”

“I’m not that man,” Cody forced out. Obi-wan gave him a small smile before he was standing over Cody, pressing his lips firmly to Cody’s. Cody could only blink as Obi-wan pulled away, a familiar twinkle in his eye.

“I know.”

 


	10. J is for Judgement

“Leaving so soon?” Cody didn’t look up at the voice from above him as he finished looking over the datapad in front of him. The rebels had resupplied his ship for after they had arrived on Utapau. Once pulled onboard the rebel ship, Cody had been detained while his passengers had been taken to another part of the ship. After being questioned and his leg had been taken away to be tested, Cody had been left alone in his cell. He had discovered later that the rebels hadn’t been able to do much on his ship. Chipper had seen to that, the clever little astromech. Cody had been released when they had arrived at Utapau. The rebels had decided that although he had once been a high ranking commander for the Empire, he was no longer serving them and had paid quite a price. He hadn’t wanted to stay, but if he hadn’t, who would have protected the boys?

They’d resupplied his ship and put everything back. He’d just gotten done checking to make sure all of his weapons were back in their proper storage and his legs hadn’t been tampered with. He figured Kenobi would stop by. The man had visited Cody a few times while Cody had been locked up and then had tried to see him while Cody waited for his ship to be ready, but Cody was not going to go through this again. Yes, Kenobi had kissed him, but they weren’t who they used to be. Kenobi was with the rebels now and Cody was just a free-lance driver. He wasn’t going back into space with a ghost of what could be floating over him.

“Not even going to say goodbye?” Kenobi stepped in front of Cody as the clone tried to move to his ship. Cody glared up at the Jedi, refusing to speak. Kenobi sighed, running a hand through his hair, which Cody noticed was greying a bit, “Cody...you don’t have to go, you know? You can stay if you wanted. We could use more good men like you.”

“Good men like me? I’m not a man, Kenobi! I’m a clone, a thing created to fight your war,” Cody snarled, shoving past the Jedi. “I’m not going back. Haven’t I given enough for you?”

“You once told me you would die for me. What happened to that man?” Kenobi grabbed his shoulder and spun him back around. “What happened to the man who would never back down from a fight? What happened to never surrender?”

“They’re back in space somewhere, burning with what’s left of my leg and my squad,” Cody snapped. “That man was nothing more than a toy, than a failure. That man was nothing, meant nothing and deserves nothing.”

“They really did break you, didn’t they?” Kenobi shook his head, eyes sad. “I thought nothing could.”

“Well you are wrong, ok? So just leave it be, leave me be and even better? Forget about me,” Cody turned and strode for his ship. This time, Obi-wan didn’t reach out to stop him.

“You know I forgive you, right?” Kenobi’s voice was calm, level, reaching out on its own and stopping Cody dead in his tracks. “For trying to kill me, here on this planet? I forgave you years ago. I knew, Cody, that if you really had wanted to kill me, you would have been the one to do it. You would have stayed here until you found my body. But you left and I knew that the man I knew was still out there. I looked for you; I hoped you would come back to me because…. Because, goddamnit, Cody, I care for you, I have cared for you. What more do you want from me? Do you want me to be angry with you, to try to kill you? Because I can’t do either of those.”

“You shouldn’t forgive me,” Cody forced out. “I’m nothing but a monster and monsters don’t deserve forgiveness. They deserve pain and death and a million other things, but not forgiveness.”

“I don’t care about what you’ve done or who you became! Don’t you get it? Or do I have to keep pounding it into your head? You were always a man of action, so I thought the kiss was enough, but I guess not. I love you, Cody!” Obi-wan snarled, spinning Cody back around, pressing another searing kiss across Cody’s lips. Cody couldn’t decide if he wanted to grip Obi-wan like the lifeline he was or push him away and save Cody from more heartache. He went with the latter, shoving Obi-wan away and turning away just a bit.

“Don’t. Just don’t. Don’t make this harder than it already is. You deserve better than a broken, pathetic clone. You deserve a real person, not me. Anyone but me,” Cody said softly, eyes down cast.

“Why do you get to say who I get to be with and who I don’t get to be with?” Obi-wan frowned. “You really think that little of yourself. Before, I know, but this…this is something completely different. You are not worthless and even if I have to spend the rest of my life proving it, I will.”

“You have the rebels, Kenobi. You have all this. I’ll ruin whatever you’ve got going here, so just go,” Cody took a step away. “Go.”

“See now, there are a few things I can clear up for you. I’m not with the rebels. I’m more of a consulting Jedi, really. I just pop in as I please,” Obi-wan took a step forward. “And only I get to say where I go. I get to judge the people around me as I see fit and I don’t see you ruining anything for me unless you leave me, again.”

“Again?” Cody finally looked up.

“You left me the day you shot me. You want me to be angry, I’ll be angry about that. I figured you come looking for me, but you never did. I’m not letting you do that again,” Obi-wan crossed his arms, challenging Cody to counter it.

“You always were stubborn,” Cody sighed.

“I already have my stuff on board,” Obi-wan smiled brightly, stepping forward so he and Cody were only inches apart again. “So, where are we going?”


	11. K is for Kiss

There are some things the handbook left out that was vitally important for a Commander of a Jedi to know.

1\. You spar with them, your butt will be kicked.

2\. They will always know what you are thinking or at least feeling at all times.

3\. They don’t like it when you act like you don’t matter.

4\. Never question their abilities, Force or otherwise. Ever.

And the most important.

5\. You will be hunted by the Sith if your Jedi has pissed them off repeatedly.

All of these applied to Cody. He’d added them to the back of his handbook as time went on, as well as others, but these were the most important. And right now, 5 was kicking his butt, again.

It was suppose to be a typical mission, or as typical as his individual missions go. Go in, get the information or object and get out before anyone notices. Today’s mission was super easy, so he’d gone in alone. Upper level apartment in a small city on a backwater planet that was owned by a separatist sympathizer. It had come to his attention that the sympathizer had a Jedi relic in their possession that could do a lot of damage if the Seps or the Sith got their hands on it.

He went in and grabbed the object, a holocron as Obi-wan had called it in the briefing, and got out pretty easily. Almost too easily, but he did his best to ignore the voice in his head that was wondering where the security was on such an important object. After all, he was paranoid enough by nature, no need to add to it. He made his way back through the building, taking a different route than how he had entered and his planned escape because yes he was paranoid at the moment. It took him longer than he wanted to get out of the apartment complex, so as he was crossing into the street outside, he heard the alarms going off. He ignored it as he headed into the nearest alley, plotting out the quickest route to his speeder bike in his head.

Only the tingling sensation on the back of the neck warned him of incoming danger. He lunged forward and felt something displace the air behind him. He turned, pistol up, to face his attacker and groaned. Ventress stood before him, unclipping her lightsabers from her belt, “My, my, my, Kenobi let his little pet off the leash? How foolish.”

“Ventress,” Cody growled. Thank goodness this wasn’t his first run in with her alone. That had been a nightmare and a half. “I’m actually kinda busy at the moment. I’ll let Kenobi you say hi, shall I?”

“Actually, you have something I need,” Ventress hissed, lightsabers hissing to life. “Hand over the holocron and I will make it a swift death.”

“I actually can’t. You see, this thing is actually live and you’d hurt yourself if you touched it. Wouldn’t want that,” Cody shifted away from her. He just needed an opening to get away and into the crowd.

“Oh please, Commander,” Ventress huffed. “I think I can handle a dormant holocron.”

“It might have been dormant, but not anymore. You heard about it the same way I did, the owner was freaking out because it was lighting up,” Cody took another step back.

“Well, yes, but you got to it first, so I am sure Kenobi gave you a little present so as not to hurt yourself. I will be safe as well,” Ventress smirked as she moved closer. “Give it to me, clone.”

“I think not,” Cody fired a single shot before taking off down the alley. Oh this was going to hurt. He was almost to the entrance of the alley when he ducked down and rolled to the side, dodging a red lightsaber. Ventress hissed as she sliced at him again and he dodged away, firing another shot at her, which she deflect. He felt it burn past his leg as he side stepped to the left, but ignored it for lunging forward under the second blade to slam her into the wall behind her. He got one arm pinned, his arm pressed to her throat, before he felt the pressure on his neck. Cody sighed, or at least tried to as his airflow was cut off. Ventress smiled triumphantly before throwing Cody away from her with the force, holding him against the opposite wall.

“Really, Commander, where did you think you were going?” Ventress smirked as she slammed him, hard, into the ground, still cutting off his airflow. “They might find your body.”

“You…..won’t……win,” Cody gasped out, his hands involuntarily going to his throat. Ventress flicked her wrist and his arms were pinned spread out away from him. She brought her lightsaber down to rest against his neck so he could feel the heat coming off it.

“I always win,” Ventress whispered as she pressed the blade lightly to Cody’s neck. He tried to pull away, but Ventress kept him immobile with the Force. She moved the lightsaber down his left arm, pressing lightly so it would leave burns, but nothing more. Cody bit his tongue to keep from making any noise, he would not give her any satisfaction.

“Now,” Ventress leaned back, lightsaber hovering over the middle of Cody’s chest. “I really, really want to kill you but I can’t. I’ve got a buyer who wants a clone to play scientist on and you are just perfect. But he didn’t say anything about you being damaged.”

She brought the tip of her blade down and rested it on the middle of his chest, burning through the light padding he was wearing instead of his usual armor. He tried to jerk away from the burning of her blade as reached his flesh, but there was nothing he could do. Her smile was huge and toothy as she drew the blade slowly downward, stopping just below his belly button. Cody was breathing heavily through his nose to keep from crying out, trying to ignore the burning. Ventress pulled her blade away, looking smug, “Something the matter, clone? Did that hurt?”

“I’ve had worse,” Cody forced out through gritted teeth glaring at her, just catching movement behind her. She tensed for a second before she was thrown into the and through the wall, the force on Cody lifting immediately and he drew in a deep breath. Obi-wan was immediately kneeling beside him, looking over his commander with worry in his eyes.

“That was a little too close, Cody,” Obi-wan sighed at Cody’s appearance before pulling his coat off and handing it to the clone as he sat up. “We need to move.”

“Yes, sir,” Cody nodded as he pulling the coat on carefully over the burns before letting Obi-wan help him up. He was never going to get used to his general’s concern for him, “Split up?”

“No, we’ll stick together,” Obi-wan shook his head, one hand resting on Cody’s lower back, pushing the clone forward so he matched Obi-wan’s pace. “It’ll be easier to keep you out of trouble.”

“She found me, sir,” Cody frowned, but allowed his general to push him along. The warm weight on his back was comforting, helping calm his racing heart. Obi-wan steered him into the busy street, quickly slipping them into the crowd moving away from where they had come from.

“I know that, Cody, but no matter what you do, you always find trouble,” Obi-wan chuckled, glancing behind them. “I have a speeder just a little ways down, in a parking garage on your side.”

“Yes, sir,” Cody nodded, eyes darting back and forth over the people around them.

“Relax and stop calling me sir,” Obi-wan leaned into Cody’s space, whispering in the clone’s ear. “We don’t want to draw attention.”

“Of course not, si…..of course not,” Cody glanced at Obi-wan, trying to relax.

“It’s a start, at least,” Obi-wan chuckled, nodding to the parking garage coming up. “Take the alley right before it.”

“Will do,” Cody quickly moved through the crowd, Obi-wan’s hand still on his back as the clone led the way into the alley. “Back entrance?”

“Yes, just up ahead,” Obi-wan shoved Cody into the wall, crowding into the clone’s space before kissing him, hands coming to rest on the clone’s waist. Cody tensed, hands pressed against the wall for support. Obi-wan pulled away, eyes looking into Cody’s, “We’re being followed.”

“And…this?” Cody released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Well, we needed a distraction to make the person following us not think it was us,” Obi-wan didn’t move away, smiling slightly. “And I was hoping you wouldn’t mind.”

“I….but….sir,” Cody blinked, completely confused. Obi-wan chuckled before leaning in a little closer.

“You don’t mind kissing me, do you, Cody?” he asked softly. “I’ve noticed you staring, more so than the usual. I didn’t misinterpret, did I?”

“No! I just……sir,” Cody broke eye contact to drop his head back against the wall, looking up at the sky. How was this actually happening right now? Yes, he had feelings for his general, but he wasn’t going to act on them. There weren’t rules against it, it was just…..Obi-wan was a Jedi and he was…..”I’m just a clone, sir.”

“You most certainly are not,” Obi-wan frowned. “I thought I had made that clear many times before?”

“Well, yes, sir but,” Cody didn’t finish his sentence because Obi-wan was once again kissing him, this time much more insistent, the Jedi’s whole body pushing Cody against the wall. Cody’s eyes slipped closed on their own violation, his mouth opening against the Jedi’s. He held back a groan as the Jedi pulled away and forced his eyes open.

“I will not hear anymore on the subject,” Obi-wan’s eyes were sparkling. “Now, our tail has continued on so we will go to the speeder and meet up with our transport. You will let Meds look you over and then you will come to my quarters for a debrief. Do you understand?”

“When you say debrief?” Cody searched the Jedi’s eyes.

“We are going to discuss, in great detail, why you need to stop getting into trouble,” Obi-wan smiled before leaning in for one last kiss.


	12. L is for Lost

Being lost or feeling lost wasn’t something that was new for Cody. He remembered the feeling in his first moments out of the tank, his first moments breathing real air, his first moments not floating in the tank with nothing but his flash training and vague shapes. He remembered the feeling as he met his pod for the first time, all of them so young, so afraid. He remembered it all too often in training, his instructors tearing him down and rebuilding him. He remembered it when Kal Skirata had pulled him aside for a “good job, son”. He remembered it when his brother had taken a live round through his chest in training and hadn’t gotten back up.

He remembered it when he and his brothers had hit the ground for the first time on an unknown and foreign planet with nothing but orders and the training they’d been pushed through. He remembered feeling so lost when he had gotten to the other side of that battle and Windu had congratulated him even through his brothers, what was left of his pod, was lying in mud not but a few yards away. He remembered it when Windu had later introduced Kenobi and said that the Jedi was being assigned to Cody and 7th. He remembered it when Obi-wan had asked why he was still a Captain even thought he was doing a Commander’s job.

He remembered all the times he and Kenobi had gotten lost one way or another on their missions. He remembered it from when Rex had come to him talking about Ahsoka and women and love. He remembered it when Kenobi had changed to Obi-wan. He remembered when Obi-wan had told him he mattered, that he needed to live and to not close his eyes. He remembered it when he’d woken up and Obi-wan was there and looked so relieved.

He remembered it when Obi-wan had kissed him it that side alley with his arms on fire and a holocron in his pocket.

He remembered it when Obi-wan had smiled at him before the attack on Utapau before they could even talk about the kiss.

He remembered it when Palpatine had give the order and he’d watched his Jedi fall from the cliff side into the water below.

He remembered not feeling it when the trooper had told him they hadn’t found a body.

He remembered not feeling it when Palpatine had summoned him back to Courasant not a week later.

He remembered not feeling it when the Chancellor had screamed at him and flung lightning at him because Obi-wan wasn’t dead.

He remembered feeling it when he’d been sent back to the front lines with his head still attached to his shoulders.

He remembered it when the orders came to kill all Jedi, to kill anyone who sympathized or protected them, to use any force necessary.

He remembered it when his men glared at him and avoided him, when they started disappearing, when soon none of them were left.

He remembered it when he was training the new recruits, all natural borns and no more clones now. From the millions that had once fought to defend the universe, it was down a few hundred, most in officer positions; part of the 501st, or in special operations. He only saw a fellow clone every so often and most often they didn’t acknowledge each other. They weren’t anything anymore, just more soldiers to be used as cannon fodder.

He remembered it as he stood in the muddy trenches on Cato Neimoidia, watching as the enemy, the rebels, appeared at their rear, cutting through the back of his lines like cannon fodder. His ships were trying to take off, trying to get troops out of the losing situation, but the heavy guns from the front lines of the rebels were cutting them down. This was going to be end for them and there was nothing he could do. His information had been wrong, there was only suppose to be a small force on the planet, not a full on army so he had only been sent here with a small battalion. They were being decimated before his eyes and there was nothing he could do.

He didn’t feel it when he came to the realization that he was going to die here, in the mud and rain on this godforsaken planet amongst men and women who weren’t his brothers or sisters, who only acknowledged him because he was their superior. He was going to die to the rebels, to a group made up of people and species from all over the galaxy that hated him because he fought for an empire he didn’t support but that he couldn’t leave because there was nothing out there for a commander of the Imperial Navy except pain, torture and death. He was going to die here because anything less would be a disgrace to those who had died before him to let him get here.

He didn’t feel it as he charged with the last of his soldiers in their final stand, hitting the surging rebel ranks with a cry a fury. He cut through the first few rebels with ease, but then one of his people fell, then another and another and another. They filled in the gaps as best they could, but soon the rebels had weeded them down till only a few remained and easily moved between those left. The close quarters forced Cody to abandon his rifle and pull out his long knife, slashing through those closest. The rebels realized they were outmatched and shifted till those better suited for hand-to-hand combat were in closer. The rest moved back and formed a ring around them, seeming to be happy to watch their fellow man or alien take down an Imperial officer.

He didn’t feel it as his blade sunk into rebel after rebel, ending their lives with the ease he had been taught on Kamino and then refined under Kenobi’s tutelage. He dodged attacks when needed, deflected a few and let one or two hit their marks as he saw fit. He was easily taking the rebels down, his training far more advanced than what they had received it seemed. Most probably just thought what training they had made them experts. Poor rebels, Cody mused, to not have gotten proper military training.

He didn’t feel lost when he heard the snap hiss of a lightsaber behind him and lunged forward, hearing the familiar thwump as the lightsaber passed over his head. He turned the lunge into a roll and came up with his own lightsaber on, his blade stowed away for the time. His blade turned his scuffed and mud stained armor blue. The Jedi before him held two blades, both green. One was of normal length while the other was slight shorter. Cody only knew of a handful of Jedi who fought like this and he knew the one standing before him quite well. Ahsoka Tano glared back at him, looking all the part of a young woman now rather than the girl he had known back in the wars. She looked ready to kill him and Cody had no doubt she would.

Cody didn’t feel lost as he stood, lightsaber at the ready, glaring back at his fate.


	13. M is for Mercy

_Cody didn’t feel lost as he stood, lightsaber at the ready, glaring back at his fate._

He barely noticed the rebels pull further away, forming a large ring around him and Ahsoka, giving the Jedi room to destroy him. He noticed some of them holding up what was left of his men, soldiers who had surrendered because they weren’t ready to die, like he was. He didn’t blame them for wanting to live, had once been the same as them, but they were just foot soldiers. The worst that would happen to them was possibly some light interrogation before being given an option to join the rebel cause. As a Commander in the Imperial Navy, he wouldn’t be so lucky. Just having his bars made him a target, but then the insignia on his left shoulder made him a gold mine. It was a crude redesign of the mando insignia to combine it with a clone helmet marked him as a former 501st operative, meaning he was getting his orders directly from Vader and Palpatine. That meant he could know things that foot soldiers didn’t. He could know where secret bases were or where Imperial officials were hiding. He was an asset that needed to be exploited.

What Ahsoka was seeing, however, was the insignia right below it, the one he kept from the clone wars. His armor was now the all white of stormtroopers but altered slightly to reflect his status, so more mando than trooper. The insignia was that from the 7th, an orange bar with three black scratches through it. It was one he had personally put on his armor himself. It wasn’t official by any means, but no one had made him remove it. She had to know about it because it marked him as Commander Cody, a former clone trooper who had personally killed at least a dozen Jedi and led attacks on numerous rebel bases.

Ahsoka would know all of this, would know who he was, what he was and who he had been. He didn’t know if she was in contact with Obi-wan, but he knew she probably had known about them. It seemed everyone had. That didn’t matter, though, because Obi-wan wasn’t here and there was nothing between them. This was him and Ahsoka, the woman who had been in love with his best friend, the woman whom Rex had defied orders for. He wondered if Rex was in the crowd, watching this. He’s probably enjoying this.

“You fucking bastard,” Ahsoka broke the silence, eyes hard. “You absolute fucking bastard.”

“You would know,” Cody countered, completely still.

“I should cut you down right where you stand,” Ahsoka snarled. “And you’d deserve it for even thinking you could wield his blade.”

“He’s the one who dropped it on Utapau. Should follow his own advice,” Cody brought the blade up to catch both of Ahsoka’s.

“I bet Vader taught you have to handle it, huh?” Ahsoka pushed against him. Cody pushed back before slamming an elbow into her face, forcing her back. He changed his stance, mimicking the one Obi-wan would take when he was about to fight.

“It was actually General Kenobi who trained me,” Cody snarled back. “But you wouldn’t care, would you? If we’re going to do this today, could you please get on with it?”

“And what exactly is this?” Ahsoka got into her fighting stand, watching Cody warily.

“You killing me, obviously. Or trying to. Either way, there is no way I am leaving here alive,” Cody twirled his blade once, letting himself settle into the stance more.

“That’s what you think,” Ahsoka scoffed.

“That’s what I know,” Cody growled. “Because I am not going to surrender, not now, not ever, and especially not to rebel scum like you.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot about that,” Ahsoka laughed. “I apologize, you Imperial ass. Too bad my orders are to bring you in alive.”

“Its not going to happen,” Cody sensed a second figure moving behind him and quickly moved, the stun bolt passing through where he had been standing as he dodged to the left. Ahsoka batted it down to the ground, eyes narrowing on him as he glanced at the second figure. Rebel armor and a familiar face confirmed his earlier thoughts, Rex was here.

“You could just come quietly. It’d hurt less,” Rex smirked, gun aimed at Cody.

“I never surrender,” Cody forced out, eyes darting between the two behind his helmet. They knew he was going to be here, they’d planned this. He’d been betrayed.

“Catching on now?” Ahsoka straightened, blades at her sides. “One of your own let us know all of your plans, gave us all we needed to tear your ranks apart and gather those we needed to get the information we need.”

“I hope you paid them well,” Cody snarled.

“Oh, very well,” Rex snarked. “Freed them from the oppression of the Empire.”

Cody decided against rising to the bait and it was a smart thing he did because he wouldn’t have been able to counter the lightsaber that appeared out of nowhere. Of course they would send another Jedi. He caught the lightsaber behind his back and twisted around, using his momentum to push the newest Jedi away before getting a good look at him. Cody very nearly dropped his own lightsaber when he realized who was standing before him.

“I always wondered if your loyalty was a strength or a weakness,” Obi-wan held his blade, green, out at his side as he looked over his former commander with a mild look of contempt. “That or your need to always be on the front lines was going to get you killed. Ahsoka, Rex, stand down.”

“ So this is their big move?” Cody forced himself back into a fighting stance as he watched Rex and Ahsoka move to cover Obi-wan’s back. “Send you in to what? Talk me down?”

“Oh, yes sadly it is. I did try to warn them about the stubbornness of commanders, but the rebel leaders wouldn’t hear it,” Obi-wan scoffed. “They seem to think I can get you to surrender, but we both know that’s not happening. Really, when the squad’s motto is ‘Never Surrender’, you would think they would get the idea of how stupid the plan was.”

“I doubt I’ll be lucky enough to kill you twice, will I?” Cody watched as Obi-wan took a step forward, lightsaber still out at his side.

“Oh, no. I doubt that as well,” Obi-wan gave a small chuckle. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m not looking forward to this.”

“I was expecting you to be ecstatic,” Cody brought his saber up so it was pointing at Obi-wan. “The kiddies sure were.”

“Yes, well, they are quite enthusiastic about some things,” Obi-wan shrugged. “They don’t understand how I can forgive you so easily.”

“It makes it easier to kill me, I suppose,” Cody snapped. “Are you done flirting or am I going to have to start this myself?”

“I don’t think you’re understanding me right now, Cody,” Obi-wan took another step forward.

“Do not call me that,” Cody took a step back. “I understand perfectly. You’re here to capture me so the rebels can extract information from me but I’m not going to let that happen. So, rebel scum, are you going to fight me or not?”

“No, Cody, I am not going to fight you,” Obi-wan turned his blade off, clipping it to his belt. “I was not sent here to capture you, that was Rex and Ahsoka. I came, of my own choosing and with the permission of the rebel leaders, to talk to you. To get you to see reason and come willingly.”

“I can’t do that and you know it,” Cody countered. “I am loyal to the Emperor and the Empire. I will not surrender nor will I trade loyalties to join a cause based on the stories of old men.”

“Don’t make me do this ,Cody. I know there’s a good man in there who doesn’t want to be abused and used anymore. Just make this easier on all of us,” Obi-wan sighed.

“I am an officer in the Imperial Navy, I never make things easy,” Cody hissed before lunging at Obi-wan. The Jedi easily side stepped and brought his hand down on the back of Cody’s neck. The clone dropped to his knees, lightsaber falling from his hands as his vision went spotty.

“Please stay down,” Obi-wan stepped closer. “I don’t want to cause anymore damage to you than has already been inflicted.”

“You always were too trusting,” Cody growled before trying to stand. Obi-wan’s foot slammed into the front of his helmet, sending him crashing onto his back. Obi-wan kneeled so his knee was in the middle of Cody’s chest.

“Must you be so rude?” Obi-wan held his right hand open, waiting as Cody tried to clear his vision.

“I learned from the best,” Cody grunted before trying to strike out again. Obi-wan sighed once more before bringing his hand closed. Cody’s limbs were forced down, made immobile by the force. Cody snarled, still struggling.

“Don’t ever say I didn’t try to be merciful,” Obi-wan sounded disappointed before his closed fist slammed into Cody’s helmet and everything went black.


	14. N is for Negotiating

Cody was honestly surprised he was waking up. He was a little groggy around the edges, but he clearly remembered the force-powered punch to his forehead from a pissed-off Jedi that sent him tumbling into the dark abyss of unconsciousness. He had expected to not wake up at all or wake up in a lot more pain and not as comfortable as he was now. The grogginess, as he thought on it, felt like the grogginess he got after being drugged which would make sense if they didn’t want him to fight back as they transported him.

He tried to move and found his arms and legs bound to the bed he was laid out on. Interesting. He had figured he would be strapped in a chair or chained in the middle of a room filled with torture instruments. Maybe the rebels wanted to make him believe they weren’t as cruel as the Empire, but Cody knew better. To combat an evil such as the Emperor, you sometimes had to stoop to his level.

He tested the bonds holding him down and was even more surprised to find that they were just straps, not metal cuffs. They were making it very easy for him. He lay back and closed his eyes, shifting each limb a little to catalogue his injuries. It was harder said than done seeing as whatever the rebels had used to drug him was making him very numb. Maybe that was why it was just simple straps. They didn’t believe that he would be able to even attempt moving. Once again, the stupid rebels were underestimating him. He’d been trained, in one of the first years after awaking on Kamino, as a small child, to escape from straps just like these. Rex should know this, should have told them. Really, this was going to be embarrassing for them.

He opened his eyes and quickly scanned the room. Only one door in or out, no windows and cabinets opposite him that he assumed held medical supplies. So, possibly locked up in a medical ward. Must’ve been more injured from the battle than he thought. No matter, he’d functioned on worse. Cody knew he probably had a limited amount of time before someone came in and checked on him so he needed to move. He shifted his left hand around, testing the strap before popping his thumb out of place and sliding his hand through with ease.

Once his right hand and legs were free, Cody popped his thumb back into place, thankful for the drugs that numbed him so he didn’t have to worry about being affected by the pain he knew he should be feeling. He forced himself to stand, holding onto the bed for a minute to gain his bearings before heading to the cabinets. He needed a weapon and anything would do. His fingers were struggling to work and his legs were shaking but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Cody needed to get out, needed to get as far away as he could.

The cabinets were well stocked and Cody made a quick ammo belt out of spare bandages, scalpels, needles and a stun baton he found in the very back of the cabinets. He kept the baton out as he moved to the door, checking to see if it was locked. Again, they underestimated him because they kept the door unlocked. Idiots.

Cody opened the door a crack, peeking outside and sighed. Obi-wan was standing against the opposite wall, staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t react as Cody opened the door the rest of the way, leaning against the doorjamb casually, although he was sure Obi-wan noticed his legs shaking. He waited silently, watching the hallway out of the corners of his eyes. His room was on a dead end, the other direction leading down a ways before coming to what looking like a nurses station.

“I told them you were going to try to escape,” Obi-wan finally broke the silence. “And again they didn’t believe me. For some reason, although I blame the other clones here, the leaders don’t believe me when it comes to you.”

“I think they just hate me is all,” Cody shrugged. “The clones and the leaders. I mean, I am technically an Imperial Commander who gets his orders from Palpatine. The rest of them deserted and joined the rebels.”

“Yes, that probably has something to do with it,” Obi-wan nodded. “Could you please disarm yourself, perhaps?”

“And if I don’t?”

“It will make our negotiating that much harder, I fear. I’m actually supposed to be in a meeting with the leaders and few others over you. The head interrogator wants to tear into you as soon as possible,” Obi-wan gave him the raised eyebrow look and Cody decided it would be best at this point to do as asked. He knew that hard look in the former general’s eyes all too well. It meant he had five seconds to comply or Obi-wan was going to use force, and not the nice kind.

“Excitable guy?” Cody offered as he moved back into the room, Obi-wan following so he was the one standing in the doorway while Cody set the stun baton and the ammo belt on the counter.

“He takes his job a little too seriously if you ask me,” Obi-wan tried to keep his tone neutral, but Cody picked up a little bit of an undertone of anger.

“Why are you here then, Kenobi?” Cody turned, leaning against the cabinet for support. No good trying to hide it from a Jedi, he’d learned that the hard way.

“Last names now? Not rebel scum?” Obi-wan honestly looked surprised.

“I’m saving that for the council meeting you obviously want to take me to,” Cody gave Obi-wan a pointed look. “Get to the point or I will call you rebel scum.”

“The rebels think you’re some fountain of information since we all know you’re in direct contact with Vader and Palpatine. No matter what I or any of the others say, they believe that you are the answer to solving a few supply and base problems,” Obi-wan ran a hand through is hair. “I think they’re wrong and so do a few others. But I doubt they will listen to reason.”

“Its true,” Cody sighed. Obi-wan looked up at him, a little confused, “You’re right, I know pretty much next to nothing. At least not anymore than the traitors have told you. I get my orders from Vader and Palpatine because they don’t trust me. Keep your friends close, enemies closer sort of thing. I went through months of interrogation at the hands of Palpatine’s yuppies before I was let back out in the field after 66. They wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to betray them, seeing as I was somehow wrong about a Jedi being dead even though we searched everywhere for his body. That’s actually when I found out you were still alive.”

“Why didn’t you try to leave?” Obi-wan frowned.

“By the time I was let out from under the ever watchful eye of Vader, I couldn’t. I was branded a traitor by my brothers and the rebels more than likely wanted my blood before they’d believe everything I had done for the past few years was forced. If I didn’t do what Vader wanted, it wasn’t me who was going to die. It was going to be the boys still growing on Kamino that would be dead,” Cody sighed. “One wrong foot out of line and the whole cloning facility was going to be blown.”

“And now?” Obi-wan frowned.

“Battle of Kamino changed that. Still couldn’t leave because where could I go?” Cody felt his shoulders slump in defeat.

“You tell them everything you know and I will make sure they give you a chance. If they don’t, we’ll just run off,” Obi-wan nodded to himself. “They don’t know where I go when I’m not here, it’ll be easy.”

“Why would you want to help me?” Cody was honestly surprised.

“Like I said before, I know there’s a good man in you, he just needs to be given a chance. Plus, its been a while since I could use aggressive negotiations,” Obi-wan smiled happily. Cody couldn’t help but smile back.


	15. O is for Obi-wan

O is for Obi-wan

By this point in his service, Cody had woken up enough times in med ward to know without opening his eyes where he was just by the feel of the bed and smell in the air. It wasn’t that he was prone to getting hurt, it was that his general tended to run into situations that sometimes caused Cody to have to make sure the stupid Jedi didn’t get hurt. Which meant throwing himself in the line of fire because Kenobi had to do Jedi shit. Which meant that Cody got hurt protecting his general so the stupid Jedi didn’t die on him, like Jedi had done on other commanders. The horror stories from the fallouts of those instances left many a clone commander and captain having nightmares for weeks.

Cody was one of them, although he wouldn’t admit it. He hadn’t slept the first month they’d had Kenobi with, worrying over the Jedi Master so much. What if the man had died in his sleep? Kenobi had found out about his lack of sleep and threatened to have Meds drug him if the clone didn’t get 6 hours of sleep before his next shift. Next shift found Cody just as exhausted and with even less sleep. Instead of calling Meds like he had threatened, Kenobi had marched Cody to his quarters and worked from his desk to make sure Cody slept. Kenobi had figured out the nightmares the third time Cody had jerked awake and had a long talk with the younger man about how his safety was not Cody’s problem. It had helped, a little, because Cody had been able to sleep easier, but you rarely found the Commander sleeping more than 4 hours a sleep cycle unless drugged up in the medward.

So being here once again was not surprising to Cody in the least. How he got here, though, was. Cody could not, for the life of him, remember why he was here now. Or well, he had a few ideas of what possible might have happened. What he could not for sure figure out was why Kenobi was slumped in a chair, his head resting on the side of Cody’s bed, one hand pressed to his wrist. Cody blinked a few times, or at least he thought he had. Every time he opened his eyes, it seemed Kenobi had shifted. His hand had stayed on Cody’s wrist, but he was sometimes leaning back in his chair, reading, and sometimes sleeping by Cody’s side. Cody wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew he was losing time.

This time his eyes opened, Cody took notice of a fuzzy feeling in his brain. He hadn’t noticed that the last few times he’d opened his eyes. It was a feeling he associated with being heavily drugged up. That would explain how he was losing time as well, but it had never been this bad. He still couldn’t really focus on his limbs, but he was a little better about focus on his location. He was obviously in a private room, which sent alarms off in his head but he still couldn’t figure out how he was injured.

Kenobi was back to reading now, hand still on Cody’s wrist. Cody forced himself to focus on that arm, trying hard to feel Kenobi’s warm hand pressed to his skin but for the life of him, he couldn’t. He’d get close then his mind was fizz out, in a sense. Or maybe it was because his body was just feeling so numb right now that the ability to feel any contact was beyond him. Cody sighed, at least in his mind seeing as Kenobi didn’t look over at him. Now Cody was worried because if he couldn’t get his mouth to work, how was he suppose to figure out what happened?

He didn’t realize it, but he was starting to panic. Panicking made one’s heart race, which gets the blood pumping. Which is something one will notice if one is monitoring the pulse of another person. Kenobi felt it underneath his figures and looked up. That Cody was able to notice seeing as his eyes were open to see the stunned look on his general’s face as the man realized he was awake.

“Cody,” Kenobi breathed out before standing and hitting a button on the wall. “You need to keep your eyes open for me, alright?”

Cody wanted to answer his general, he really did, but his mind was not connecting to the rest of him. He did notice he got a little grunt out, so there was some connection between his brain and his mouth. Kenobi looked relieved at the noise, leaning over Cody’s bed, “Just focus on me, Cody. Don’t strain yourself.”

At that moment the door to the room slide open and Meds raced in, “Sith spawn, he’s awake.”

Cody didn’t take his eyes off Kenobi, even as Meds started moving around the bed, checking machine’s Cody hadn’t noticed before and speaking too quickly for Cody to follow. Kenobi occasionally glanced up at Meds, but kept his eyes on Cody, worry creating lines between his eyes. Those lines were never good. He tried to tell Kenobi to calm down, but once again only incoherent noises came out. Med stopped moving at that and moved to Cody’s other side, “Sir, can you understand me?”

Cody pulled his eyes away from Kenobi to focus on Meds, even though it took more effort than it should have. Meds searched his eyes, worry pulling at his face as well, “This isn’t good.”

“He’s awake, Meds, so I’m going to say its kriffing great,” Kenobi sounded like he was trying to laugh but it sounded more like a sob. Cody’s eyes flew back to Kenobi; he’d never heard his general swear in front of the men before.

“Lang,” Cody got out, trying to reprimand his general as he was used to doing. His voiced sound horrible, like he had been gargling gravel for a few weeks and it hurt. He actually felt that pain, distantly but it was there.

“Seriously, Cody? You wake up from being in a coma for a month and the first thing you try to say is language. Feir’fek, Commander, but really!” Kenobi sounded stressed as he ran a hand through his hair, which was looking a little long again. He would need to remember to remind the general about that.

“Easy there, sir,” Meds said softly. “Don’t make me kick you out.”

“I’m sorry, but really its absolutely insane,” Kenobi sighed.

“That’s what you two specialize in,” Meds refocused on Cody. “Sir, as much as I would love to hear you speak right now, I only just got your vocal cords repaired so how about we not speak for a bit. I just want you to listen ok?”

Cody wanted to try to nod but figured blinking would be better. At least, it should have worked, but the next time he opened his eyes, Kenobi was sitting back down, watching Cody’s face with such intensity, Cody had to blink again. Kenobi stared where he was, so Cody didn’t lose any time but it was still disconcerting.

“Please stop scaring me, Cody,” Kenobi was gripping Cody’s hand now and Cody could feel the familiar rough skin against his.

“Don’t…try…sir” Cody forced out, wincing at the sharp pain from his throat. The lines between Kenobi’s eyes lessened at that, though, so it was worth it.

“I know I shouldn’t be letting you talk, but its good to hear your voice, Cody,” Kenobi smiled a little. “I was worried for a bit I’d have to get used to someone else yelling at me over the comms.”

“Not…going, sir,” Cody was really trying to let his general know he was ok, but it didn’t seem to be working much.

“I think after getting tortured and blown up for me, Cody, that you have the right to call me Obi-wan now,” Kenobi’s eyes got sad at that. “Do you remember that?”

“No…sir,” Cody could not remember and now that he thought about it, there was a large gap in his memory. He remembered going to Dantoonie and then nothing.

“Its Obi-wan,” Kenobi admonished. “And it’s alright to not remember. You did just wake up and there was severe trauma to your head. Meds was just happy you woke up.”

“Why?” Cody remembered them saying something about him being in a coma for a month. Clones weren’t allowed to be in comas. A clone that couldn’t fight was a clone that could no longer serve a purpose. Any resources used on said clone were wasted, so any clone in a coma that was not medically induced for some sort of reparative surgery was terminated.

“Why what?” Kenobi leaned forward, forehead bunching up again.

“Why…alive,” Cody figured it was a simple question, but when Kenobi looked horrified he remembered Kenobi didn’t believe in the Republic’s practices concerning the clones.

“Why shouldn’t you be? Because you’re a clone? Need I remind you that you are much more than that, Cody? I was not going to let you be terminated after you nearly died for me. No, after you did die for me. And yes, you were dead. For a full 20 minutes. If Anakin hadn’t gotten to us when he did…” Kenobi looked close to tears at this point, which terrified Cody. No one was suppose to cry over him.

“My…job, sir,” Cody forced out quickly, wanting to keep his general from getting hysterical because of him.

“Its not your job to die for me, Cody, and its Obi-wan,” Kenobi looked over at a machine and sighed. “Get some more rest, Cody. I’ll be here when you wake.”

“Sir?” Cody gripped Kenobi’s hand tightly, frowning.

“You’ll be fine, Cody, but you need more rest and you need to calm down,” Kenobi gave a small smile. “And in private you don’t need to call me sir. Its Obi-wan. We are friends, aren’t we?”

Cody was taken aback by that. He didn’t have friends. He had his brothers and his Jedi, but not friends. Kenobi started laughing, shaking his head, “Don’t over think it. At least not yet. No need to cause any more damage to your brain. Just call me Obi-wan and leave it at that.”

“Yes…” Cody had to stop himself from saying sir. He met Kenobi’s eyes, seeing the warmth and concern there that only seemed to ever come from his general. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let his training slip a bit this one time.

“Obi-wan.”


	16. P is for Paralysis

P is for Paralysis

Cody had been an Admiral in the Imperial Navy for almost two years when it happened. He’d been incredibly proud of himself, coming all the way from clone commander to an Admiral leading one of the most effective fleets in the Imperial Navy in a little under ten years. Even with his rocky history with the Emperor and his lap dog, Cody had been allowed to advance up the ranks. It was probably something to do with the fact that Cody had move experience in not only Jedi but in fighting than most of the Admirals in Palpatine’s fleet. Even though the Clone Wars had only lasted a couple years, Cody had gone from hunting the Separatists to hunting Jedi over night. While the newly formed Empire had struggled to bring order back to the galaxy, Cody had been walking over the cold bodies of former brothers, sisters and generals.

He hadn’t gotten a break from the fighting; he’d only gotten new orders and a promotion to General shortly after Order 66. And by shortly he meant 6 months of interrogation to make sure he was loyal to the Empire and then 6 months back on Kamino going through some new training. When he was done, he’d been given new armor, a new rank, new orders and a new command. He was sent to restore order in the outer reaches of the Empire. Many regions still were in turmoil after the Clone Wars and it was up to Cody to bring peace to the galaxy. Of course, peace was a relative term at best, seeing as his orders were to bring in any unwilling planets by any means necessary.

Five years of leading his force from one planet to the next saw him now as a Rear-Admiral, with a fleet of three Super-Star Destroyers, seven Star Destroyers, ten cruisers of various origins filled with enough fire power and personal to take on anything that came across his path. He’d spent that whole time moving around the Outer Rim, retaking settlements and destroying all who apposed Emperor Palpatine. He had just finished putting down another rebellion on Geonosis (he really was starting to hate that planet) when he received a summons from the Emperor. Still in his battle-scarred armor and covered in blood from himself and those he had killed, Cody had answered the call in his private study.

“Rear-Admiral Fett,” Palpatine had sneered over the vid comm, his face half in shadows from that stupid oversized hood of his.

“Yes, sir,” Cody had snapped a smart salute before standing at parade rest, helmet under his arm.

“I see you didn’t take the time to…clean up,” Palpatine leaned back, giving Cody a slight view of the hulking form of Darth Vader behind his master. Wonderful, maybe he was going to be force-choked to death today.

“My apologies, sir, but was under the impression this was urgent. That is what my ensign told me as soon as I stepped off the transport,” Cody made sure to look a little nonplussed to appease his Emperor. In reality, he hadn’t cleaned up because it was only in the little things that he could rebel with. He would have defected ages ago if not for the horror stories of how the rebels treated clones who switched sides. Might as well fight for the folks who at least gave decent pay than the side that paid by ripping out your intestines while you’re still alive because of “science”.

“Yes, it is, Rear-Admiral. Or should I say Admiral,” Palpatine folded his hands together, looking smug.

“It is an honor, sir, to be promoted to Vice-Admiral,” Cody didn’t try to fake his joy, just played it up a little. A promotion meant a bigger target on his back.

“No, Admiral Fett. I am promoting you to the rank of Admiral. I have a special assignment for you and I need you to only be answering to myself and Moff Tarkin,” Palpatine snarled. Ah yes, Moff Tarkin coming into play again. The bastard liked to remind Cody that the clone answered to him any chance he got. Tarkin may be in charge of the Outer Rim and the patrols out there, but he could not pull Cody from his assigned duties on a whim. When Palpatine had found out that Cody’s fleet had been diverted to serve the Moff on a stupid assignment, the Emperor had not been too pleased.

“I am always ready to serve you, sir,” Cody nodded. “I can have my fleet ready to head out within the next twelve hours, if not sooner.”

“Good, good. I need you and your fleet to patrol the region around the Maw Cluster,” Palpatine nodded. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors going around of Tarkin having a secret base located within the Maw Cluster itself?”

“Yes, sir, but I only took it as rumor,” Cody raised an eyebrow. “Has the Moff outdone himself again?”

“He has indeed,” Palpatine looked practically giddy. “Moff Tarkin not only has put together a base to house his prototypes for weapons of mass destruction, but he also has a team put together. The Maw Installation houses the brightest my Empire has to offer, so they must be protected at all costs.”

“And you wish for my fleet to patrol the region around the Maw, sir?” at least the assignment was going to interesting.

“It has come to my attention that the Rebels have become aware of our base there,” Palpatine looked a little annoyed. “The Moff got a little too enthusiastic about testing his latest battle station on a nearby system. I need you to make sure the future of the Empire is secured, Admiral, at all costs.”

“I will do my best, sir,” Cody nodded.

“Good. Disappoint me, Admiral, and you will feel the full fury of the Dark Side,” Palpatine leaned forward, sneering once more before the screen went black. Cody sighed before heading to make the necessary arrangements. At least it was getting him out of fighting all the time. As an Admiral, he was now expected to stay on his flagship, running the battle from a safe distance. Not that there was much fighting to be had out in the Maw.

Patrolling the outer reaches of the Maw proved to be a little more boring than Cody expected. Since Moff Tarkin had tested his newest toy, a lot of the more unsavory types that tended to frequent this region had taken to finding new routes. It possibly could also have something to do with Cody’s newest toy and his flagship. A gift from the Moff for taking on the safety of his investments, the newest Super-Star Destroyer was the second of its kind, the first being Darth Vader’s own flagship. Unlike the _Executor_ , the _Enforcer_ was built more as a battering ram than a long-range missile. It lived up to its name, enforcing martial law in and around the Maw. Cody’s orders came directly from Palpatine now and a couple times he’d moved into the Maw to step in with any “disagreements” at the Maw Installation.

Cody wasn’t proud of it, but his name was now met with fear in the Outer Rim, particularly around the Maw where he was even harsher than when he was just patrolling. Palpatine’s orders were to protect the Maw at all costs and so he did. He’d wiped out entire settlements to make sure that any rumor of rebels was cleared out. He’d seen the future inside the Maw and he didn’t want either side having what was within it but there was nothing he could stop the Empire. He could stop the Rebels though and so he did without restraint. The Rebels had tried to find out what was in the Maw many a time, but after the first year they’d backed off, seeing as almost all of the forces sent against him had been destroyed. Cody had let one or two ships go here or there to send word back to the Rebels that he was not letting his guard down.

It was nearing the end of his second year that Cody left the _Enforcer_ to oversee the investigation on a settlement near the Maw. His battle worn white armor glinted in the sun as he strode through the devastated village. Buildings barely stood after being barraged from above by the _Enforcer’s_ cannons. He’d warned the people here of what he would do if they withheld information from them and he always kept his promises. The dull gray cloak over his shoulders was the only indication of whom he was, the edges frayed from wear and tear. It was the only identifying mark he had on him. Without it, everyone would just see him as another stormtrooper. All who saw the armor and the cloak knew it was Admiral Fett, terror of the Outer Rim. Some had taken to calling him Admiral Death, seeing as that’s what always followed behind him wherever he went.

The survivors huddled together in the middle of the village, watching him approach with fearful eyes. Cody paid them no attention; turning to the captain who had overseen the invasion force, “Find anything?”

“No, sir,” the captain gave a quick salute. “There is no sign the Rebels have ever been here.”

“A pity,” Cody sighed. “Well, get the men loaded up and back to the ships. This little visit has put us behind schedule. I’ll inform Emperor Palpatine that there were no survivors when we get back onboard.”

“But, sir!” the captain sounded horrified. He was a new one, Cody remembered, fresh from the Core worlds. He’d learn with time what it meant to serve Admiral Fett.

“I said there were no survivors, Captain, and that is an order,” Cody rounded on the captain. “Or do I need to ask someone else?”

“No, sir,” the captain took a step back. Good, someone had talked to the idiot before he hit the planet. “It shall be done.”

“Get on it, we don’t have all day. There’s Rebels somewhere in this quadrant and I want them found,” Cody turned on his heel and headed back the way he had come, to his private shuttle. He was ten paces away from the captain when he felt the back of his neck tingle. It was all the warning he got before something sharp sliced through his middle, sending him to the ground. Looking down at the blood spilling from his middle, Cody felt like he was looking at someone else’s body. It didn’t feel like the blood was coming from him. A boot appeared in his vision and kicked him over, revealing the captain with a gun pointed at Cody’s head.

“The Rebels send their regards,” the captain snarled, finger tightening on his trigger. He never got the chance to pull it, sadly. His head exploded as Cody pulled the trigger on his pistol, his aim true.

“They’ll have to try harder,” Cody snarled, watching as the body slowly crumpled in on itself. He didn’t have long to feel satisfied on the clean shot because suddenly the survivors were swarming him, striking wherever they could. Cody got around a dozen shots off before the gun was ripped from his hand, but it didn’t matter. The gun fire had attracted his personal guards and they cut down the survivors with an efficiency born from long hours under Cody’s watchful eyes. Cody didn’t get to see that, however, because a head could only be kicked so many times before the person was knocked unconscious.

Cody spent three days floating in a bacta tank in a forced coma, the worst of his injuries healing as fast as the liquid allowed. The doctors woke him from the coma to let him and Palpatine know the prognosis and then quickly fled to let the Admiral deal with the Emperor’s disappointment alone.

“It seems you’ve run out of being useful, Admiral,” Palpatine snarled over the vid comm, disappointment clear on his face.

“I must disagree, sir,” Cody forced himself to sit up, even though he felt like shit, knew he looked like shit and had a whole through his middle. “I just won’t be able to go on the ground anymore.”

“And how are you still useful to me in a chair, Admiral, when I could send a perfectly healthy Admiral to do your job,” Palpatine hissed.

“They won’t do it as well as me, sir,” Cody countered. “It would take sometime for them to learn my network out here and learn to function with the crews. And you know Tarkin would be even more difficult than he already is.”

“A soldier who can’t fight is no soldier at all,” Vader snapped from behind Palpatine.

“Just because I have no use of my legs does not mean I can’t fight,” Cody snapped back. “With time, I sure my back can be repaired in some way. Until then I can still run this mission at the same efficiency as before.”

“Your men will have no respect for an Admiral who is paralyzed,” Vader growled.

“I don’t need their respect when they fear me, Lord Vader,” Cody sneered right back. “I can still do the job, the parameters just have to be adjusted slightly.”

“Enough! Admiral, I am sending one of my agents to watch over you for the time being,” Palpatine held up a hand. “If a time comes where I decide that I don’t care to entertain the idea of a paralyzed Admiral any longer, that agent will step in to fill your position. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Cody nodded.

“Good. I am sparing your life only because you are too valuable at this point. If that were to change at any point, so would my view on killing you,” Palpatine looked away. “And I will be speaking to Tarkin on the posting of that captain. He came from one of the units on the Maw Installation. I need to know how much he knows.”

“I’ll look into it from my end as well, sir,” Cody got out before the line was cut. He fell back on his bed, looking down at his limp legs. Well…he did think this assignment was going to be interesting.

 


	17. Q is for Quiet

_Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order 66._

_Yes, my Lord._

Cody didn’t know what had come over him, why he gave the order. One minute he was wondering if he was actually going to get off this landing pad and get under real cover any time soon. The next, he was telling his men to fire on their trai…..their general. He shook his head, clearing away the darker thoughts. Their Jedi had always been kind to them, had always visited them when they were hurt, had listened to them in their darkest hours. Cody knew, possibly better than anyone, how much their Jedi had given up for them. He wasn’t a traitor, he was a hero.

And Cody had just blown him up.

“Why didn’t the bastard use his damn lightsaber,” Cody grumbled as he slowly made his way down into the caverns below Pau City. There were paths that led down to the undermost caverns, but from there the terrain was a little rough. Cody had his rifle out but pointed down. All he really wanted to do was sit down for a bit and catch his breath, but he had to beat the search parties to Kenobi. Even if he was d……no, the idiot was alive and probably wanted to stab his lightsaber through Cody’s heart. Cody would let him, too, once he knew the Jedi was safe.

Cody probably would even let the man use his own blaster on him. How could Cody even let himself complete that order? What honestly could the Jedi have done to make them traitors of the Republic? All Kenobi would talk about was protecting the Republic, of giving himself for the greater good. Cody knew what that was about, after all that was his sole purpose for being created.

“Sir?” a voice called over his comm.

“Cody here. What’s up, Boz?” Cody turned a corner in the current tunnel he was in to find an opening at the end of the next cavern. This one looked like it looked out on the pools below Pau City.

“Still haven’t found anything on the Jedi, sir. Droids came back, found nothing down in the pools,” Boz sounded a little worried. Cody was too, although he was also hopeful. If the droids hadn’t found anything than Kenobi was still alive.

“Get the troops out then, searching the upper levels. If they find him, tell them not to engage, just let me know if you’ve found him,” Cody slowed as he drew closer to the edge of the opening.

“The Admiral also called, said we got new orders,” Boz said casually as Cody came to the edge and looked down into the pools, searching the edges. Lots of places for Obi-wan to come up from.

“Start loading up the men, then, and give me those orders,” Cody turned away from the edge, going over the map he’d memorized while they were still in orbit. This was the most likely place Obi-wan would come out. It was a sheltered inlet that the droids would only half-heartedly scan over. It also had the lowest entrance into the caverns. From there, he could go anywhere, even to another city if he knew the right route through the caverns.

“He wants to give the orders to you personally, sir,” Boz sounded a little stressed, now that he thought about it.

“Have him call my private channel then,” Cody stopped partway down the tunnel, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

“He’s actually here, sir, to see you personally,” Boz emphasized the sir. “And he would like you to come back here as soon as you are able to.”

“I’m actually on my way back now. Grevious’s ship is secured and last I checked in with the search groups, there have been no signs of the traitor in the lower levels,” Cody did a slow turn, but stopped as a slumped figure in a little niche caught his eye.

“He’s waiting for you then, sir,” Boz’s voice echoed throughout the cavern.

“Cody out,” Cody answered before flicking his eyes, turning his mic off. “Sir?”

Nothing answered him as he knelt beside the limp figure of his general. Kenobi looked horrible, completely soaked through and what looked like a superficial cut on his forehead. Cody gently moved the Jedi so he was lying more comfortably against the rock face, taking the opportunity to check for more injuries. He couldn’t feel any broken bones and he didn’t see any new cuts, but he was still worried. Kenobi was unresponsive to his touch, which could mean any matter of things.

Of course, he should remember that he had blown the man up just a matter of hours ago. Last time Cody had gotten blown up, he’d spent weeks in the medical bay, regaining the ability to use some of his limbs. Cody sat back on his heals, thinking quickly. A patrol should be coming through here in a few minutes. He could not leave Kenobi out in the open or the men would kill him. He needed to get both of them someplace secure till Kenobi could be moved and get the men out of here. First things first though, he needed to get Kenobi somewhere safe.

He threw the unconscious Jedi over his shoulder and headed back the way he had come while calling Boz over the comm. First, a distraction.

“Sir?” Boz answered immediately.

“Change of plans. I’m tracking the traitor through the caverns. I ran into him near Grevious’s ship. He was trying to get to it to clear our blockade. He’s moving quickly towards the deeper caverns that connect to the other cities,” Cody said in a rush, making it sound like he was out of breath as he searched the caverns around him for a hiding place.

“Sir, are you ok?” Boz sounded worried and Cody could pick up Admiral Killian’s voice in the background.

“He got the jump on me is all, I’m still on his tail,” Cody spotted it up ahead, a nice little cut out that was off the well traveled path and could easily be blocked by some nearby rocks.

“Be careful, sir. We’ll get a lock on your transmitter and send some men after you,” Admiral Killian cut in. “Be careful, Commander, don’t underestimate the Jedi.”

“I won’t, sir,” Cody grunted out. The Admiral was a pretentious douchebag, having replaced Admiral Yellarn only a few months ago. He was constantly clashing with Kenobi and belittling the clones, especially Cody. Sith spawn, Cody hated the guy, “I’m staying a ways back, but I catch sight of him from.”

Before Cody could finish his thought, something slammed into his lower back, sending him crashing to his knees while losing his grip on Kenobi. Kenobi rolled away from, eyes a little unfocused as he glared at Cody, “You shot me!”

“Cody, what is happening?” Killian snapped in his ear. Cody growled, this was neither the time nor the place for Kenobi to try to kill him.

“You seem fine to me, sir,” Cody forced out, sounding cold and distant to even his ears. “How about we take this someplace a little more comfortable?”

“Commander, we’re having trouble getting a lock on your transmitter. Once we do, help will be on the way. Just stall,” Boz called over the comm, sounding frantic.

“I don’t want to have to hurt you anymore than I have,” Cody started to rise but stopped as Kenobi drew his lightsaber. “Please don’t make me do this.”

“Make you do what?” Kenobi started and Cody saw something flash in his eyes. Shit, he was going to start yelling and that would draw a lot of unwanted attention. Cody lunged forward, tackling Kenobi and sending them closer to the niche Cody had picked out earlier. Kenobi held his own very well, extremely well in fact. For having been unconscious not too long ago, he was placing his punches and kicks with surprising accuracy. Although, Cody knew he shouldn’t expect anything less from the Jedi Master. Cody’s armor gave him some protection, but that didn’t stop the blows from landing. Cody’s main focus was on getting them into the niche as quickly and as quietly as possible.

“I gave you everything!” Kenobi snarled at him as slammed Cody into the wall using the force, holding him there while he stood, his lightsaber hissing to life. “I believed in you and this is how you repay me?”

“If I said I’m sorry, would you not hurt me?” Cody gasped out, feeling his ribs shift in a manner that was not natural. Boz only needed a few more seconds to get his transmitter back online and triangulated. He needed to get the helmet off and destroyed.

“You’re a fool, Commander!” Kenobi snapped as he swung the blade at Cody. It cut into the wall next to Cody’s head, Kenobi leaning into Cody’s space as the blade hissed inches from him, “And I will enjoy this.”

“No, you won’t,” Cody countered, grabbing Kenobi’s wrist with one hand while ripping his helmet off with the other. He jerked Kenobi’s wrist away from the wall, removing the blade completely before driving it through his helmet.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kenobi jerked his hand free, pointing the blade at Cody, looking utterly confused.

“Saving your life, no thanks to you,” Cody snapped before grabbing Obi-wan and shoving him into the niche, making sure to pull the lightsaber from the Jedi’s lax hand and turning it off before following, throwing the lightsaber in with them blindly. He was surprised to find that the niche was actually deeper than he previously assume, easily hiding them without having to block the entrance. That was good, too, because Kenobi was not being a willing participant at all. As Cody dived in after him, the Jedi tried to push back out. They grappled for a moment, Cody’s head coming in contact with the rock around them way too often, before Cody got Kenobi pinned in the back of the hole. He pressed a hand to Kenobi’s mouth, grunting as the Jedi bucked up underneath, trying to shove Cody off.

“Shut up. Just shut up, ok?” Cody cocked his head as he heard a noise echoing in the cavern. Shit, his helmet. He looked down at Kenobi, weighing his options before sighing, “Pull my helmet in here with us. Please?”

Kenobi raised eyebrow at him, breathing heavily against Cody’s hand. Cody feared that they were royally screwed before something slammed into the back of his head, forcing him to lose his balance and fall forward onto the Jedi. Kenobi used Cody’s distraction to switch their places, shoving Cody against the rocks while he pinned the clone down. Cody stayed limp under his hands, knowing he wasn’t going to win this one.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” Kenobi growled, thankfully keeping his voice low. The crisp footsteps of marching clones were getting closer. These boys were idiots, giving themselves away so easily.

“Be quiet and I will explain everything,” Cody whispered, meeting Kenobi’s clear blue eyes with only a little effort. So probably a concussion from having his helmet slammed into his head, how ironic.

Kenobi narrowed his eyes before nodding, looking over his shoulder but not moving from hovering over Cody. Cody took a deep breath and let it out as he let his head fall back, feeling the last 24 hours clearly in his sore muscles. He was an idiot and he knew it. What was he thinking, coming after Kenobi like this. The Jedi could take care of himself. All Cody had done was put himself in danger now. His career was over, he had no future. Well, he’d never had a future so there was that at least.

He tensed as he heard the footsteps stop nearby. That wasn’t good. Kenobi pressed closer, trying to get them as far into the niche as possible. Voices could be heard, but Cody couldn’t make them out. He closed his eyes, praying to whoever would hear that they didn’t get caught. This wasn’t a very defensible position and he had them cramped in here with no way out. He could feel how tense Kenobi was against him, even through the armor. He was keeping his breathing as level as Cody’s, trying to be as quiet as possible. Please let the troopers leave soon, please let them leave soon.

Finally, after what seemed like years, the troopers moved on, heading back the way they came. Cody breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing into the rocks behind him. Now all he had to do was get Kenobi out of here in one piece and…

A pair of lips pressed against him, beard rubbing against his chin just like he always remembered and cherished. It was fierce and brutal and all consuming, just like the Jedi himself. Kenobi had a strong grip on his arms, almost bruising as he pushed into Cody. Cody felt like he was drowning in the kiss, like the only thing keeping him here was the connection of their lips. Cody didn’t want it to end, didn’t want to go back to reality where Kenobi just wanted to kill him because Cody couldn’t disobey one order to save the man he loved.

The moment had to end, though, mainly because Cody was starting to feel fuzzy around the edges of his consciousness. He pulled back, his eyes snapping open, trying to gauge what Kenobi was thinking. The Jedi was just inches from his face, breathing just as hard as he was. He had a thoughtful look in his eyes as he searched Cody’s face. He seemed to find what he was looking for because he leaned forward, resting his forehead against Cody’s, “I’m still angry at you.”

“I’ll let you kill me once I get you off this planet,” Cody whispered, trying to catch his breath.

“I don’t want you dead. I never wanted you dead,” Kenobi sighed. “We are getting out of here, together, and you are staying by my side. I let you out of my sight and you cause all sorts of trouble.”

“I didn’t mean to shoot you,” Cody tried to sound as sincere as he could.

“I know, I felt your panic as soon as you fired that shot. Right now, we are getting to Grevious’s ship and hopefully finding some help. You have a lot of explaining to do,” Kenobi leaned back a little. “Just because I kissed you doesn’t mean you’re forgiven.”

“I don’t ever expect to be forgiven,” Cody closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

“You are an idiot, Commander,” Kenobi sounded almost fond of him before his lips met Cody’s again, briefly. “I will forgive you, in time. And I will make sure you forgive yourself as well.”


	18. R is for Rebel

The trouble with being a good Admiral for a rebel cause was that it left you very little time on your own. Cody didn’t know how long he had been up, but he knew it was well past his normal 36-hour limit. Judging by the looks Marta was giving him, it was also past the 48-hour limit. It wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t slept, he had honestly tried. The last time he’d tried, he’d only made it as far as the officer’s mess before his comm went off. That was somewhere around 26 hours though. Marta had brought him caf and some food, but seeing as he was the one with the most fire power in the Rebel fleet, he was often called upon to act as back up. His orders never changed, though. Don’t risk exposing his fleet unless absolutely necessary. So far he hadn’t had to reveal the Rebels biggest secret, but he didn’t know how much longer that could last.

That secret was a ship only a few in the entire galaxy knew existed. A ship that was the equal of Darth Vader’s _Executor_. A massive Clone-era cruiser, constructed in the last months of the war by a small group of engineers and scientists by request of the Jedi council. Cody found it ironic that the peacekeepers of the universe had a cruiser crafted that had more firepower than any ship in existence. Named the _Negotiator_ , after the general the Jedi were hoping to helm the ship, she cruised through the space lanes with a fleet with her made up of ships that had simply disappeared from the Empire’s fleet. Ship’s abandoned to the dry dock, ship’s that were in the early stages of construction. All just as much a ghost as the _Negotiator_ , and that is the way they would stay until the time was right.

Cody had 35 ships under his command, broken up into groupings of five. Each group was commanded by a general who only answered to Cody. Each group with specific orders to stay hidden until Cody gave the word. Cody had never been more thankful than the day that Mace Windu, somehow alive after falling from the Emperor’s office with a missing arm, had approached him shortly after Cody had been returned to active duty. He had wanted someone he could trust to take on this mission for him. This fleet was their ace in the deck and they needed it to stay that way for as long as possible. Cody didn’t understand why Mace trusted him, but the man had just laughed at that. Mace had pointed out that he trusted Cody to shoot him in the face before turning on him at least.

Cody had spent another year in the service of the Empire, gaining contacts and supplies before making a break for it. He spent 6 months locked up, earning the trust of the other leaders of the rebels before he was finally released into the care of Mace. Cody was immediately placed in command of the 8 ships they’d had at the time, including the _Negotiator_. He’d fought tooth and nail to get his soldiers to trust him and now he had a whole fleet of men, women and other that had followed him into the farthest reaches of the known galaxy. That didn’t mean anything when he was asleep on his feet, though.

Cody rested his hands on the holo table before him as the battle wrapped up before him. Some data had been leaked from a Rebel outpost on Naboo and Cody had been tasked with following the data trail and getting that information back. The trail had led to an Imperial base out on an asteroid on the edge of known space. Really, could they be a little more creative? Cody had easily planned a raid, but the Imperials there are proven to be a little more creative than they had first were presumed to be. All this had taken place over the couple days, he wasn’t sure the exact number but he knew he hadn’t slept at all. Information just kept coming in, leading them all over the place till they’d ended up here.

As much as Cody wanted to decrypt the files now and see what was so important (a perk he enjoyed because he was so far off the grid and so high up in the pecking order in the Rebellion), all he really wanted to do was pass out and sleep for a week. Maybe finally get that new heart too. Speaking of which….

As if she was reading his mind, Marta appeared at his elbow, holding a cup of what smelled of tea and two of his pills. He sighed and took the cup from her, taking a big swig, “How late am I?”

“Only about two hours,” Marta held up the pills, looking expectant. She never looked exhausted and he was always annoyed with that. He took the pills and downed them immediately.

“Not too bad then,” Cody sighed, looking around the room as members of his staff slowly filed out. “Make sure those files are locked down so only you or I can get into them and let the council know we’ll have them headed back to them as soon as we know all the files are there. I want the second shift running down all incoming and outgoing streams from this base. Once we are sure there is nothing left to find here, I want this base destroyed. That means that the crews only have 12 hours before that place blows. Understood?”

“I’ll wake you in six hours to shove food down your throat and to shave that carpet off your face, then you will sleep another eight before I let you out of your quarters. Am I understood?” Marta smirked up at him. The younger blonde was a spitfire on a good day.

“If the council calls and they need me asap, you wake me,” Cody countered as he turned to head out the door. Leaning against the wall by the door was a hooded figure that Cody had known was there. Cody paused before looking at Marta, “Why is he here?”

“Council sent him to hand the transfer,” Marta shrugged. “He insisted you not be disturbed from the mission.”

“Wonderful job, Admiral,” the man stepped forward as he threw back his hood and Cody was pretty sure he was going to have a heart attack right there. Obi-wan Kenobi, hair a little grey and few more wrinkles on his face, stood before him as though he had just casually strolled in. Cody really hated that about the man.

“Looking pretty good for a dead guy,” Cody replied flippantly. It had taken some time for them to get back to the working relationship they’d had before Order 66. Actually a long time, like almost six years. Partially not their fault, seeing as Obi-wan didn’t know that the super secret fleet did not exist or that Cody had changed sides.

“Looking pretty dead for a live guy yourself, Admiral Fett,” Obi-wan looked amused but also concerned. Well, better than a lightsaber through his chest at least. At least that had only happened once.

“Well…yeah, I’ve got nothing,” Cody sighed. Obi-wan moved forward, throwing an arm around Cody’s shoulder and forcing him out of the war room.

“I’ve got him, Marta,” Obi-wan threw over his shoulder. “Forward anything to me.”

“Yes, sir,” Marta got out before the door slid closed. Obi-wan kept a hand on Cody’s arm all the way back to Cody’s room, keeping the Admiral steady. Cody didn’t think he actually needed the support but after catching himself on the wall for the third time, maybe he was grateful to his old friend.

“How long did you stay awake this time?” Obi-wan sighed as Cody opened his quarters.

“No clue. Getting the data was too important,” Cody yawned as he shuffled inside, Obi-wan close behind. Cody made to head to his bed but Obi-wan pulled him to a stop.

“Clothes off, Codes,” Obi-wan smirked at the clone as he moved to Cody’s closet, getting some sleep pants. “You’ll thank me, again, when you don’t wake up with your collar choking you.”

“That was one time,” Cody grumbled but did as he was told. Obi-wan passed over the sleeping pants before pulling on the spare he kept in Cody’s room. Obi-wan had only found out that Cody served the Rebels a little over five years ago and Cody still was surprised how easily they had fallen together. Obi-wan had his own quarters aboard the _Negotiator_ , but he rarely used them anymore. Most of his clothes were now kept in Cody’s rooms when he was onboard. When he wasn’t out in the galaxy, doing whatever the Jedi were doing now a days. Cody tried to keep track of where Obi-wan was stationed, but he had started to trust Marta with that. She would update him when she felt he needed to be.

Of course, he had Obi-wan to thank for Marta. The young woman was a budding Jedi, found before the Empire could sweep her up with the rest of untapped Force talent out there. She’d proven to be a valuable asset, keeping her Admiral safe on more than one occasion. Her need to keep Cody functioning probably stemmed from her early training coming from Obi-wan. Technically, he was her Master, but there wasn’t a lot of time for proper training right now. So she spent her time keeping Cody alive and practicing whatever Obi-wan asked her to.

“I really wish you’d stop being so stubborn,” Obi-wan spoke from right by Cody’s ear as the Jedi wrapped his arms around Cody’s still very well muscled middle. “Makes it hard to leave you alone when I find out you haven’t slept in almost a week.”

“Really, a week? I thought it had been shorter,” Cody sighed, leaning back into Obi-wan’s chest. “I am sorry, you know.”

“Oh, I know all too well,” Obi-wan laughed before pulling away, dragging Cody back towards the bed. “I do believe that a certain Admiral has been ordered at least 12 hours of sleep coming your way, as ordered by your secretary.”

“Sometimes its like there’s two of you, although she’s not as good looking as you,” Cody let himself get manhandled under the covers, Obi-wan wrapped around him like his own personal shield against anything of ill intent. Obi-wan kept one hand pressed against Cody’s chest, palm flat against where his heart lay, “Surgery should be in a couple days.”

“I wish you had stopped putting it off,” Obi-wan sighed against the top of his head.

“As an Admiral in the Rebel fleet, its kind of hard for me to just take time off to get new organs,” Cody chuckled, pressing his face against Obi-wan’s shoulder.

“You’re putting all of the other Admirals to shame. Now, go to sleep,” Obi-wan pressed a kiss into Cody’s hair before pulling him closer. Cody let out a sigh, too tired to be sassy. He pressed a kiss to Obi-wan’s neck before pressing closer, letting his eyes slide shut. The last thing he noticed before falling asleep was the soft trace of Obi-wan’s fingers over the tattoo Cody had over his heart, his finger following the simple lines of the Republic insignia.


	19. S is for Survival

Crash landings were starting to feel like the specialty of Obi-wan’s. Really, the man had at least one crash a week and wasn’t that just a nightmare for Cody. Writing up those reports weren’t enjoyable at all and one of these times he was going to make Obi-wan answer the calls from Triple Zero about why they needed another new bomber or shuttle. At least Obi-wan kept it to once a week. Anakin still held the record at 30 ships in a week. Someone how Rex still passed off those reports to Cody even though the 501st and the 212th didn’t fly together anymore. Next time he saw the bastard, Cody was shoving the reports down his brother’s throat.

This time, Obi-wan was crashing their small shuttle. One they’d taken from Anakin after he had destroyed their shuttle after he’d “borrowed” it to see if he liked their model better. At least the Knight had a looked a little sorry as he stood before them. Cody had just wanted to cry as he stared at the pile of metal that used to be their ship. Rex seemed to sense that because he suggested they take their shuttle, one Anakin had just finished modifying, to get back to their fleet. Anakin had wanted to argue that one but one look from Obi-wan had shut him up.

Cody had been looking forward to a nice, quiet ride back to the fleet. Just him and Obi-wan, possibly discussing their newest assignment or maybe just bantering casually between each other. It seemed though, in all his tinkering, Anakin had forgotten to check the hyperdrive. It gave out near Dantooine, making the power flicker before they were dropped right in front of a Separatist destroyer. Obi-wan didn’t even flinch at his use of colorful language to curse Skywalker into the next galaxy as they tried to out run the ships cannons.

And that’s how they ended up here, in the smoking wreck of was once a Republic shuttle. Cody’s head hurt from where it was resting against what he thought was the comms but he couldn’t entirely sure till he moved. Which was proving harder than it really should be. Light filtered in from outside, showing that other than for a few twisted pieces of metal, Cody wasn’t trapped. Well, that was at least one win for them.

“Cody?” Obi-wan didn’t sound that far away but he definitely sounded in pain.

“You ok, sir?” Cody got out, forcing himself to move. He tested his arms first, finding them a little sore but all connected as they should be. He tried his feet next and was stopped as a stab of pain arched up his back. Shit, that wasn’t good.

“I’ve been better. You?” It sounded like Obi-wan was moving something, possibly something that was on him. Cody tried to control his breathing as he tried moving his lower extremities but each was met with a worse and worse stab of pain.

“Cody?” Obi-wan called again, sounding a little more worried this time. “I’m a little stuck, but almost free. Answer me.”

“I’m,” Cody’s breath hitched as he tried to push himself up and his lower back exploded in pain, nearly causing him to black out.

“Hold on,” Obi-wan snapped and Cody heard something fall away before he felt the shift a little under him, signaling that Obi-wan was free from whatever was trapping him. “Don’t move.”

“I’m ok,” Cody rasped out, forcing his eyes back open. He heard Obi-wan’s footsteps drawing closer, cautiously stepping over and through the wreck, “Be careful.”

“How badly are you hurt?” Obi-wan asked, sounding really close. Cody forced his head up, turning his head slowly and relieved to find that it didn’t send pain flaring through him. Obi-wan was a few feet away, climbing over what appeared to be one of the ceiling panels. He had a head wound that was bleeding sluggishly and he was holding his left arm around his ribs, but as far as that Cody couldn’t really tell how hurt he was.

“Just give me a few minutes,” Cody breathed out, shifting first one hand then the other into his lap, chest loosening a bit. “Be just fine.”

“That Cody shaped dent you’re currently leaning against says otherwise,” Obi-wan grumbled as he got over the piece of ceiling and finally got to Cody’s side. He knelt, carefully pulling the pieces of metal away, “Move your feet for me?”

“Bad idea,” Cody tapped his fingers against his legs, getting a little sensation from it. Ok, so maybe not as bad as he was thinking.

“I’m going to get your helmet off,” Obi-wan said softly, waiting for Cody’s nod before gently pulling the thing off. He set it aside before cupping Cody’s face in his hands, searching his eyes, “How bad?”

“Hurts,” Cody tried to look away but Obi-wan didn’t let go. “Hurts to move just my toes.”

Obi-wan sitting back on his haunches, his arm wrapping around his chest as he looks Cody over thoughtfully. Cody takes the moment to reach out and tap Obi-wan’s chest right above his arm and the Jedi winces, “What was that for?”

“Should wrap them. It’ll help,” Cody let his hand fall back. “Make it easier to move.”

“We really aren’t going anywhere right now, Cody. I can’t risk moving you, not if it could make whatever is wrong worse,” Obi-wan frowned.

“There’s an outpost couple klicks away. You could go get help,” Cody let his head fall back into the indent it had originally been resting in. “Seps are gonna come looking anyway.”

“I’m not leaving you here when you can barely move,” Obi-wan snapped.

“You’ll be back before I even know you’re gone,” Cody laughed hollowly. “Seps will probably think I’m dead anyway.”

“Damn it, Cody,” Obi-wan leaned forward, brushing a hand across Cody’s back. Cody sucked in a breath as his vision exploded, white noise filling his ears. He didn’t know how long he was out, but he came to with Obi-wan filling his view. He couldn’t tell if the Jedi was more pissed or more worried.

“Be fine,” Cody forced out. “Doesn’t hurt much.”

“Why do you keep trying to lie to Jedi,” Obi-wan sighed before standing, looking around. “I made it a little harder for them to get in here, so if the Separatists send in droids they’ll just do a visual scan. Just don’t move and I’ll be back as soon as I can, ok?”

“Not gonna die. Not yet,” Cody nodded and watched as Obi-wan climbed out of the wreck. Yeah, he hurt like hell but a little pain never killed anyone before.

_*ABC’s of Commander Cody*_

Cody didn’t know how long he had passed out this time. He’d been trying, on and off since Obi-wan had left, to get to a weapon. He’d spotted his blaster not far away under what used to be his seat, right where’d he left it. If he was careful and moved slowly, he could shift a few inches before having to stop. The hard part was getting into a position to actually move towards the blaster. He was now lying on the floor of the ship, flat on his stomach and still no closer to his blaster than he was before. This time waking up, though, was different. He couldn’t place it but something had changed. Maybe it was nighttime now?

A shuffling noise nearby caused Cody to tense. Someone else was here. He almost started to call out before he picked up the familiar noise of, “Roger, roger.”

Cody knew the Seps were coming, but he figured they’d have more time than this. Obi-wan should be back by now. Unless….

“Sir, there’s one life form on board but they are unresponsive,” a droid’s voice filtered in. “Seems the thing is either dying or dead, Sir.”

“What sort of life form is it?” Dooku’s drawl sent shivers down Cody’s spine. This day was just getting worse and worse.

“Ah….clone, Sir. Looks to be one from Kenobi’s squad. He has yellow stripes like they do,” a droid piped up. “We’d go in and check for sure, but there’s a lot of stuff in the way. Unless you want us to, Sir.”

“No, we shouldn’t waste anymore time, especially on a clone. Vile abominations is what they are. If it is one of Kenobi’s, then we must get to the outpost,” Dooku sounded almost gleeful. “He’ll have headed there and walked right into my trap.”

A trap? Shit, he needed to do something and soon. Well, as soon as Dooku and the droids left. The sound of a ship rumbling outside a few minutes later confirmed that he was alone once again, so he immediately tried is comm unit. Or would have, if it turned on. Double shit. Cody looked over at his blaster, then glanced around the space. There was a gap that was closer to him than his blaster. He sighed, looks like he was going to do something stupid, again.

_*ABC’s of Commander Cody*_

Cody didn’t know how long he’d been dragging himself through the forest. All he knew was he was on the verge of passing out, again, and the sun was down completely. He could not see anything other than a few feet in front of him and he had no clue if he was still going in the right direction.

Over the sounds of his panting, Cody heard a rustle in the leaves to his left. Great, something actually lived on this planet. Unless…it was a droid. Either way, he was probably dead because there was no way Obi-wan was coming for him at this point. He’d taken too long trying to get anywhere and Obi-wan was probably now paying the price. What had he even been thinking, trying to go after his Jedi general? He was too broken to be any good anymore, too broken to fight.

There was another rustle in the trees, closer this time and Cody finally gave up on moving any further. He slumped against the ground, his hands sore and his back screaming in agony. There wasn’t much he could do at this point other than roll over and die. Of course, that’s not Cody played the game. He tried to push himself up and over so he could face whatever was coming for him, but his body had other plans. His arms gave out from underneath and he fell face first into the ground underneath him, getting a mouth full of dirt for his efforts.

Hands immediately grabbed his shoulders and gently turned him over, a body coming to support his upper torso so he stayed seated. A hand came and rested against his forehead, holding his head in place against the person’s shoulder as the other hand came to rest over his stomach, keeping him still as his body tried to protest the movement. Cody kept his eyes closed, forcing himself to breath through the pain and focus on the hand on his forehead, using it as a grounding force.

Once the pain faded enough that Cody didn’t have to worry about the world spinning out of control, he forced his eyes open. The hand obscured his view just a little, but the familiar skin allowed Cody breath even easier, letting out a soft sigh as he relaxing into the body behind him. The hand on his head shifted so it was massaging his scalp almost absently, “With me now, Commander?”

“Droids,” Cody forced out, trying to stay focused on why he was here in the first place. Obi-wan laughed softly behind him, shifting them slowly so Cody was leaning against a nearby tree and Obi-wan was leaning over him, hand still resting in the short bristles on top of Cody’s head.

“I am well aware there are droids on this planet,” Obi-wan looked amused, although underneath Cody could see he was hiding his concern for the clone. Obi-wan looked a little worn around the edges, his armor a little singed but other than that he looked relieved, “Ran into them at the outpost. They were easily handled and I got a message out before Dooku showed up. He picked up on the trail end of a transmission back about forces on their way and beat a tactical retreat, per the usual.”

“I was worried,” Cody breathed out another sigh, so glad he had been wrong. “Dooku was at the ship. Heard him talk about the ambush.”

“He was at the ship?” Obi-wan tensed, leaning back a little and getting a better look at Cody. “Did he hurt you? Is that why you’re out here?”

“No, he ignored me. Thought I was dead. Out here to get to you,” Cody snorted, wincing a little as the it jarred his back.

“Easy there, Cody,” Obi-wan leaned forward again, his free hand coming to hover over Cody as he concentrated, his hand glowing slightly. His frown deepened, “Good lord, Cody, your back is ready to snap.”

“Must be why it hurts so much,” Cody let his head fall back, feeling drained. “Legs feel a little tingly.”

“Yes, that has something to do with it,” Obi-wan shrugged off his cloak and spread it over Cody’s lap. “Well, it will be a few hours before help gets here and we don’t have anything for a fire.”

“Probably a good thing. Don’t need to attract unwanted attention,” Cody nodded. “Not cold, though.”

“You might not be feeling cold right now, but you’ve had a bit of blood loss and the adrenaline should be wearing off soon,” Obi-wan shook his head. “You should have stayed on the ship, Cody.”

“You weren’t safe,” Cody countered. “And you’re going to be cold, too.”

“Do you trust me?” Ob-wan shifted a little so he was sitting next to Cody.

“Of course, sir. That shouldn’t be a question,” Cody laughed softly.

“Alright. I’m going to move you again so you’re leaning against me. Best way to stay warm is sharing body heat,” Obi-wan smiled a little.

“Do worry if I pass out,” Cody couldn’t help sounding a little snarky, but it was a short lived moment. Obi-wan tried to be gentle, but the jarring of his back had Cody seeing stars for a few seconds. Or minutes possibly. When time started running right, Obi-wan’s cloak was pulling up over both of them, Cody’s face cradled on Obi-wan’s shoulder. The Jedi was once again running a hand through Cody’s hair, the feeling calming and grounding to the clone.

“You make a good pillow,” Cody sighed against Obi-wan’s neck.

“Well, I’m glad I can be of some use here,” Ob-wan chuckled softly. “Always causing so much trouble. What am I going to do with you, Cody?”

“Give me and yourself desk jobs. Let someone else do the stupid stuff,” Cody mumbled softly.

“I think you’d be bored in a matter of hours,” Obi-wan laughed. “Hasselling the staff and probably complaining about the caf not being strong enough. I swear the stuff in the mess is only a few steps from being tar.”

“Its how we weed out the weak,” Cody smiled weakly. “How about a vacation?”

“We’ll have some down time while your back heals,” Obi-wan nodded. “And I do owe you a night at the opera.”

“That one singer should be in town,” Cody pressed closer to Obi-wan. “The one we like.”

“No, the one I like. You obsess over him. If I take you to see him, I probably will have a runaway clone on my hands,” Obi-wan huffed.

“He’s not as cute as you, though,” Cody snorted, tangling his fingers through Obi-wan’s free hand. “And he doesn’t save my ass like you do.”

“Well of course I save your ass. I’m quite fond of it,” Obi-wan pressed a kiss to the top of Cody’s head.

“Ten credits to say that in front of Anakin and Rex.”

“We’re trying to hide this from them, Cody. Another month and Mace wins the pool. We break cover now and Ahsoka wins.”

“Oh yes right. Why do we want Mace to win?”

“He promised me a bottle of that whiskey I like if we let him win.”

“And what do I get?”

“You get half the whiskey.”

“Oh, well that’s fair.”

“I thought so too.”


	20. T is for Tranquility

The nightlife on Courasant had never been a silent one or a still one. Speeders raced through the traffic lanes, their destinations unknown to those around them. Even though the sky was dark, the planet stayed lite up just as brightly as it was during the day. If one was out walking at this time of the night, even near the Jedi temple, you’d hear the constant buzz of speeders racing overhead. Or more accurately, clone gunships zipping back and forth. Even though there was a limited fly zone around the Jedi Temple, the noise being made just outside those lanes was enough to reach the outer walkways of the Temple. Inside, however, was a different matter.

The Temple was well sound proofed, even though the main halls echoed ominously. It was all part of the illusion the Jedi liked to throw out to the general public. Once beyond those first few halls, the Temple was much more warm and welcoming, as long as you avoided the library. The quarters of the Masters were no different, if more personalized. When Obi-wan had been made a Master, he had been gifted quarters that overlooked the Republic Barracks. His floor to ceiling windows, hidden on the outside by tinting and holographs, gave his bed a nice view of his second home as of late. He stood before them now, looking thoughtful. Cody could just imagine the tight lines between his eyes that were always there are a tough mission. Not that Cody could do much more than imagine.

This last mission had been as hard as they come. They’d had to infiltrate a Separatist space yard and destroy it from the inside since it was too heavily fortified for a space assault. Almost immediately, Cody and Obi-wan had split their forces, heading to their respective objectives. Cody was headed to set charges in the main reactors while Obi-wan went to get as much information as possible from the base. Cody’s team had just finished setting charges when they’d been discovered. Cody remembered a difficult battle as he’d tried to contact Obi-wan only to find their comms jammed. Cody remembered seeing a flash of a red lightsaber before being blasted from behind as he set off the charges, hoping Obi-wan had gotten away.

He’d woken weeks later, freezing cold and unable to see but feeling like he was burning from the inside. He’d been frozen in carbonite and waved in Obi-wan’s face by Ventress. It had been her cockiness that had been her eventual downfall. She’d escaped, but he’d been recovered and unfrozen in the Temple, Jedi healers prepared for the worst. There wasn’t much knowledge of dealing with long-term exposure to carbonite.

Only Obi-wan’s presence had kept Cody from striking out as soon as he’d been freed form the block of carbonite, not that he could have done much. After much poking and prodding from the Jedi Healers, he’d been released into Obi-wan’s care seeing as there wasn’t much they could except let him rest. His sight had improved marginally, but they figured it would be back in a matter of days at most. The chills and fever would take time to clear out. The main concern was the injuries he’d sustained from the battle, but once those were treated they weren’t going to keep him their med center. It was set up to handle Jedi, not clones and they didn’t want to send him to the clone medical center when there was an open bed for him much nearer.

Obi-wan had wrapped his robe around Cody as soon as they had left the med center, forcing Cody’s arms through the sleeves in the middle of a hallway in front of Yoda, Mace and Anakin as the four of them discussed their next moves. Cody figured he should be worried about such a big display of affection from the Master, but all he wanted to do was curl up and die. Obi-wan seemed to sense that because he’d pulled Cody close while still talking to the others so Cody could rest his head against Obi-wan’s shoulder.

Cody must of passed out at some point because he came to in Obi-wan’s arms as the Master carried him to his quarters, “Let me down.”

“I really don’t want to see you running into anything, Cody,” Was all Obi-wan had said, but he had sounded a little detached so Cody just let him be.

Now he was curled up on Obi-wan’s bed, dressed only in a spare pair of sleep pants from Obi-wan and his robe. He’d tried to take it from Cody, but the clone had refused, saying he felt better with it wrapped around him. Maybe that little bit of weakness had caused Obi-wan’s pensiveness. Cody had fallen asleep again almost as soon as Obi-wan had tucked him in, but was now awake and watching his general through hazy eyes.

“I think my eyesight’s getting better, “Cody called softly to Obi-wan, not moving from his fetal position in the middle of Obi-wan’s bed, one pillow under his head while he clung to another. “I can make out more solid shapes at a distance. Details are easier closer up.”

“That’s good. I’ll be sure to let the healers know,” Ob-wan said absently. “How is the fever?”

“Still feeling cold and sore. Not burning as much though,” Cody mumbled, pulling the robe tighter round him.

“Good. Very good. We’re grounded for the time being any way,” Ob-wan sighed, back still to Cody. “We lost a good portion of our fleet tracking Ventress.”

“You shouldn’t have,” Cody frowned at that. He didn’t know they’d lost men.

“And what? Leave you in carbonite, to be paraded around by the Separatists? I think not,” Obi-wan grumbled, shoulders tensing a bit.

“They’d unfrozen me eventually, I’m sure,” Cody shrugged. “Probably would’ve been quick about killing me, too.”

“Cody, please,” Obi-wan pressed a fist to the glass, sounding strained. “Do not speak so casually on you being killed.”

“Sir, with all do respect, I’m not worth getting the fleet destroyed,” Cody sighed. “I understand it’s hard for you Jedi to understand, but we clones were made to die.”

“You were not,” Ob-wan snapped, finally turning to Cody. “And I will hear no more of it! I will not have you talk so low of yourself! I could not bare seeing you in that carbonite any more or seeing Ventress with you!”

“Sir, calm down,” Cody pushed himself up a bit, a little worried about his general. “I didn’t even feel anything.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it. I read the files on other carbonite survivors,” Obi-wan strode to the bed, pushing Cody back down. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

“Kinda hard when you’re talking crazy,” Cody flopped back easily, feeling drained. It was a strange sensation for him, utterly alien to feel so weak. To be so vulnerable was terrifying in all honesty.

“I’m not the one who casually throws his life away at every turn,” Ob-wan stood over him, still tense.

“Its my job, sir,” Cody sighed again. Ever since starting whatever it was between him and Obi-wan, this conversation had come up regularly. It was hard to get non-clones to understand what went on in a clone’s head.

“No, your job is to help me win this war, not die before it’s over,” Ob-wan snapped, running a hand through his hair. “Now’s not the time for this discussion.”

“I think it is, sir,” Cody pushed himself before Obi-wan could stop him, resting against the headboard. “My memory is a little hazy about the events after I woke up, but I clearly remember you cuddling me in front of Generals Yoda, Windu and Skywalker.”

“You were freezing and shaking. I wasn’t going to just force you to stand there while we ironed out a few more details,” Ob-wan huffed.

“You could have sent me back to my quarters or the med ward over in HQ,” Cody pointed out.

“What’s wrong with you being here?” Obi-wan looked alarmed.

“I’ve never been here except on official business, sir. I know there’s something going on between us because of the kissing and the sleeping together. I know its not the sleeping Rex does with others, but its still nice,” Cody glared at Obi-wan as the man turned a little red. “That’s not normal business between two officers, sir.”

“Are you uncomfortable with this?” Obi-wan sounded even more stressed now.

“No, sir, I’m not! That’s not what I’m saying. I just don’t know what this is!” Cody weakly chucked a pillow at Obi-wan. It landed well short of his target, only adding to his frustration, “Why can’t I do anything!?”

“Cody, calm down,” Ob-wan sat on the edge of the bed, handing the pillow back. “And stop calling me sir, its worrying me.”

“I just don’t know where we stand,” Cody let his head fall back, feeling even more drained now. Why were these sorts of things so confusing.

“We stand where ever you want us to stand. If you want me to back off, I will,” Obi-wan sighed and Cody could see the tense frown he was wearing now.

“I don’t want you getting in trouble because of me, sir. I know Jedi don’t like attachments and you sending the fleet after me is a big gesture if there ever was one,” Cody breathed out. “I’m just a clone, sir, not something worth losing your career over.”

“Is that what this is about? You worried that I’ll be kicked out of the Order? You do know Anakin is married, right? I thinking me being in relations with my commander is the least of the worries to the other Masters. Mace himself has pointed out you have done wonders for me, Cody. And what do you mean by gesture?” Obi-wan now sounded amused.

“Like…wait, Anakin is married?” Cody brought his head up, eyes wide.

“Yes, to Senator Amidala. You didn’t know?” Obi-wan was smiling a little at him in that fond way that made Cody’s stomach do summersaults. Or maybe that was the carbonite sickness.

“No, I didn’t….wait so….How did I miss that?” Cody groaned. “That’s why Rex and Ahsoka were laughing at me.”

“I thought they were laughing at you because you kept missing me pining after you,” Ob-wan chuckled.

“Ok, I know I’m partially blind right now, but seriously? Am I just that clueless or something?” Cody grunted. “I don’t get romance at all.”

“I think you’re doing just fine,” Obi-wan took his hand and Cody looked down at it, confused, “This is ok, right?”

“It’s the first time you’ve touched me since we got in here,” Cody murmured. “You don’t want me to transfer?”

“Why would I want that?” Obi-wan wasn’t smiling anymore. If anything, he looked mad again. At least this close Cody could really tell instead of guessing.

“Because I’m distracting you. I’m making you lose focus. You lost part of the fleet getting me back,” Cody tried to pull his hand away, but Obi-wan wouldn’t let go.

“I lost part of the fleet because we all wanted you back. It was not a romantic gesture at all. If I was trying to be romantic, I’d blow up a Separatist base for you, not kill our men,” Obi-wan gave a long-suffering sigh. “Cody, I care for you deeply, possibly even love you. No, I do love, you idiot, and I would do anything to protect you. So please, don’t try to get yourself killed. That’s all I’m asking.”

“You love me?” Cody asked in a small voice, not quite sure his hearing was working right now.

“Cody,” Obi-wan was smiling fondly again. “I’ve loved you since our first day together, when you took down that spider droid with a fist through its top plating. And nothing will make me stop. But seeing you frozen in carbonite reminded me of why we don’t do attachments very often. It took a lot not to just send the fleet out there in search of you. If we hadn’t waited, we would have lost more men. Now, no more. You need rest and the healers would thrash me if they knew we’d been arguing.”

“You really love me?” Cody still couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Maybe he needed to get his general checked out too. Obi-wan sighed against before kicking his boots off and crawling on to the bed, pulling Cody back down into his nest of blankets and pillows.

“Of course I do, now rest,” Ob-wan chuckled as he tucked Cody in under his chin, his arms snaking under the robe to wrap around Cody’s chest. Cody was tense for a moment before relaxing, pressing his face against Obi-wan’s chest. Obi-wan absently traced his fingers over Cody’s bare back, the soothing touches relaxing Cody even more.

“That’s nice,” Cody mumbled, snuggling closer. Nowhere was safer than here, in his Jedi’s arms.

“You’re still shivering,” Obi-wan murmured back, one hand coming up to play with the hairs on the back of his neck. “You should’ve said something.”

“You’re here now,” Cody tugged lightly at Obi-wan’s tunic. “And warm.”

“You’re going to be cuddly for a while, aren’t you. You clones really are touch starved,” Obi-wan sighed fondly before chuckling. “You should’ve seen Mace’s face when you pulled the hood up over your face and literally forced yourself into my chest.”

“I like your robe. It’s a nice robe,” Cody pulled said robe around him tighter.

“Yoda managed not to laugh till you fell asleep, standing up mind you. Mace wanted to take you right back to the healers,” he pressed a kiss to Cody’s hair. “I used it as a reason to get you up here.”

“Only want me for my body,” Cody let his eyes slip close. “Get me in your bed, had your way with me.”

“Of course, Cody, that’s the only reason I want you,” Obi-wan laughed at that. “You do look very comfortable in my bed, though.”

“Wanna stay forever. So soft.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

“I love you, too. Just so you know.”

“I know, Cody. I know.”

“Gonna keep the robe though.”

“The robe and I are a package deal.”

“Damn.”

“Get some rest, Cody. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Always?”

“As long as you’ll have me.”

 

 

 

 


	21. U is for Upheaval

Really, if he was going to be captured, Obi-wan would not have chosen this group to be locked up with. Kanen was a good man and could be a good Jedi, but he let his emotions cloud his judgment too often. So when Obi-wan had first let them all know he was going to go get captured by some Imperialists, the man had been the first to argue against it. Yes, Obi-wan was one of the last living Jedi in the galaxy. Yes, it was a big risk that he was probably going to be shot on sight, but the Force was telling Obi-wan he was going to be fine. For some reason, these younger Jedi seemed to be wary of trusting the Force completely. Such an odd for a Force user in Obi-wan’s mind. Ahsoka at least had shown improvement in that aspect. She just couldn’t let him go alone, was all. So she had said she was going.

Of course, when Rex had heard what was going to happen, he’d immediately thrown a fuss. So they had to take Rex along, but were leaving Wolffe and Gregor behind. Not really behind, per say, just a plan b incase plan a didn’t work. Kanen wasn’t going to leave the safety of the Rebels’ two most powerful Jedi to a retired clone, so he had to come with. And wherever Kanen went, so did Ezra. Hera, Zeb and Sabine tried to hitch a ride as well, but Obi-wan drew the line at them. They could wait with Wolfe and Gregor and maybe learn something about following orders from them. Obi-wan already had a headache growing from dealing with Ahsoka, Rex, Kanen and Ezra.

At least Ahsoka and Rex trusted him, even if he was leaning more towards crazed hermit now a days than almighty Jedi Master. He liked having the ability to be a little freer flowing now and understood some of his own Master’s habits a little bit better. Being so connected to the Force seemed to almost remove a weight from his shoulders. Of course, even the Force couldn’t prepare him for the stupidity of a half trained Jedi and his padiwan learner.

Sitting chained to the wall of the hanger of a crashed Star Destroyer had so far been the most pleasant part of the whole trip. At least they were finally out of the rain. Kanen wasn’t badgering Obi-wan or Ahsoka as to why they were getting captured by Imperials or why Rex had to come with or why it had to be them. Ezra wasn’t nearly taking his head off because his teacher was so focused on himself to properly teach the boy. Ahsoka thankfully had snuck off with Ezra and did some training with him and possibly talked to him about the mission. Probably why the boy had just dropped his weapon at Obi-wan’s order when the Stormtroopers had surrounded them. Ahsoka and Rex weren’t making eyes at each other when they thought no one was looking. Obi-wan knew they were sharing a bunk and he really didn’t want to know what all they’d been up to since the War. It wasn’t his place, really, because at least they’d gotten their act together.

Obi-wan was sitting the furthest from the wall at the moment, legs crossed and his eyes closed as he focused on the beings around them. The medical bay was full past capacity a couple floors up and there was a heated debate being held on the heavily damaged bridge, possibly about them. Ahsoka and Rex were leaning against the wall, Rex the one chained to the wall with one wrist while the other was chained to Ahsoka. Ezra was chained between Ahsoka and Kanen with Kanen being the nearest to Obi-wan. Ezra was trying to mimic Obi-wan but was struggling. Obi-wan sighed before giving the boy a gentle nudge in the Force, focusing him on the hanger around him. Kanen was scanning their surroundings, eyeing a nearby shuttle.

There were about twelve troopers in the hanger with them, scattered around them in a semi circle. A group of five was playing sabacc close to the lifts, the Rebels’ weapons laid out nearby. Four of the troopers had taken up positions around the group, blasters held loosely but still pointed at the captives. The other three were sitting on some crates near the shuttle, cleaning bits and pieces of their equipment while talking softly with each other. From what he’d overheard so far, Obi-wan had gathered that one of the officers of the ship was out scouting and so they were waiting for him to get  back to decide what to do with the Rebels.

“Master Kenobi, not to sound ungrateful and all but…we could easily escape,” Kanen leaned in close, whispering into Obi-wan’s ear.

“I know that, young one,” Obi-wan kept his face impassive. “Not all the pieces are in places just yet.”

“How do you know that?” Kanen asked, the all too familiar tone of annoyance back once more.

“I listen to what the Force tells me and in return I trust it to guide me forward into the unknown,” Obi-wan sat up straighter as he picked up on a new presence entering into his field of awareness. “And right now it’s telling me to tell you to trust me.”

“But, Master,” Kanen sounded like he wanted to argue but Rex leaned forward, looking annoyed.

“Just shut your trap and you’ll be fine,” Rex drawled easily, his tone not lessening the glare he was shooting the younger man. “Kenobi hasn’t led me wrong yet.”

“Obi-wan…do you feel that?” Ahsoka tensed, looking towards the door, slight horror on her face.

“He feels like Rex,” Ezra whispered as Obi-wan also focused on the door as the whine of speeder bike reached their ears.

“Another clone? And he’s working for the Imps. Just great,” Kanen grumbled.

“He’s not just any clone,” Obi-wan couldn’t stop the small smile that cracked his face. After all these years, he had finally found the stupid man.

Cutting a path through the curtain of rain that marked the hanger entrance was a speeder bike, it’s rider encased in the familiar white armor of a stormtrooper. The bike skidded to a stop near the troops playing sabacc and the trooper easily dismounted, blaster strapped to his back as he towered over the men. Just looking at his stance, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at the other troopers, told you he was not happy at all. With a voice that cracked like a whip, he growled at the men, “What the hell is this?”

“Sir!” One man moved to get up, but the officer shoved him back down. The trooper visibly swallowed before continuing as the others stayed silent, “We’re watching the prisoners, sir.”

“What? Those prisoners over there? The ones chained to the wall instead of down in the brig?” The officer snapped. The men by the shuttle continued to clean their equipment absentmindedly as they watched the others, almost looking smug.

“Yes, sir!” another of the troopers answered. “General Martin ordered us to stay down here with them, said he didn’t want them dirtying his brig.”

“The brig that he doesn’t oversee? The bastard,” the officer growled. “What I really want to know, though, is why your lazy gits are sitting here, twirling your thumbs while your prisoners are planning their escape.”

“Please, sir,” one bolder than the others laughed, actually laughed while the others cringed as the officer crossed to him. “The Jedi have suppressant cuffs on. The old guy is crazy anyways. And the clone can’t even walk straight. They’re really not worth our time.”

“No one said anything about Jedi or a clone,” the officer pulled the trooper up by his neck, one hand wrapped easily around it like it was nothing to him.

“Four Jedi and a clone, sir!” one of the men actually guarding them called out. “Gear is on the crate over there.”

The officer threw the man he was holding aside, ignoring as the trooper gasped for air. The man crossed to the crate, snatching up a lightsaber and looking it over. Obi-wan recognized his lightsaber easily and felt his stomach twist. The way the officer was acting didn’t remind him anything of the man he used to know. If anything, he was a much colder, much harsher version.

“They were easily captured, sir,” Another man spoke up. “Didn’t even put up a fight.”

“And no one wondered why?” the officer asked softly, turning the hilt over thoughtfully in his hand.

“Why would we, sir? They’re rebels, they tend to be stupid,” the man shrugged.

“Because more often than not, a Jedi has another plan in mind,” the officer snapped.

“Well, that’s why you’re here, sir. Being a Jedi killer and all,” the trooper said carefully, glancing at the others nervously.  

“That is what I am. Wanna know why?” the officer flicked a finger and the blue blade hissed to life. “I know how to fight like ‘em, trained with a few back during the war. I know how they think, how they move, how they will react. I also know who they are and boys, you just brought the wrong Jedi on board.”

“What….what do you mean, sir?” the troopers started to stand slowly as the nearest one to the officer leaned away as the blade ideally flicked to him.

“The Jedi you brought on board, the crazy one. Just so happens we have a history,” the officer thrust forward, driving the blade through the trooper’s left eye. The man screamed as the blade drove home and then up through his skull as he slumped forward. The sizzle of the blade echoed through out the hanger as the stench of burned brain hit Obi-wan’s nose. The officer turned to the others, the troopers glancing uneasily at each other. The officer twirled the blade in his hand almost casually, “A history, boys, that means only I am allowed to kill him.”

With that, the officer lunged forward, blade hissing at his side as he rushed the nearest group of troopers. The first one didn’t stand a chance against him, cut down with two quick slashes through his torso. The officer had already had moved onto the next as the body fell to the ground in three pieces.

“Someone get us back up! Fett’s lost it!” one of the troopers near Obi-wan yelled as he ran forward, his blaster spitting red. The officer, Fett, easily decapitated the next trooper before he twirled the blade behind him, catching the blaster bolts and sending them spinning off into the walls. Behind him, Obi-wan sensed Kanen forcing Ezra down and covering the boy with his body but Obi-wan couldn’t turn away from the scene.

Fett easily dodged the now steady stream of blaster fire, using the body of a trooper as shield as he stabbed another through the stomach and sliced upwards, the body separating up the middle as it hit the ground. He threw the body aside and flipped over a crate and coming up with his blaster in his free hand, spitting blue bolts back at the troopers. He caught another trooper with his blaster fire before another trooper got a lucky shot in, catching Fett in the leg. Fett turned his fall into a roll, coming right next to another trooper. The trooper started screaming but Fett cut him off with a blaster bolt under the chin.

At this point, the hanger smelled of fear, filling every inch of the space as the troopers realized that the battle at this point was useless. One trooper was screaming into his comm as he knelt by the lift, trying to override the lockdown the hanger had been slammed into once Fett had killed his first man, “Let us out! Please, let us out, he’s going to kill us all! He’s gone mad!”

Another trooper, the one that had fired those first shots, had taken cover behind a pile of crates and was yelling at someone on the other end of his comm nearby, “I don’t care what they say, get us a whole squad down here! Fett has finally snapped and he’s butchering us down here! I don’t know if it was one of the Jedi or not, but its about time someone put this man down! Get us some help down here! He’s going to.”

What Fett was going to do, the man never was able to finish. The blue lightsaber easily sliced through the crates and the top of the man’s helmet, silencing him in less than a second. Fett kicked the crates over as well, firing a few shots into the man’s body, “I never did like you, Sarge.”

“Holy shit! Holy shit, we’re dead!” One of the troopers screamed from nearby where Fett had left him after filling his chest with blaster bolts. Fett turned back to him and caught a blaster bolt in the shoulder as one of the remaining troopers ducked out from behind his pile of crates. Fett stabbed the lightsaber through the injured trooper’s head as he passed, striding towards the trooper who had hit him. The man backed away, his helmet laying abandoned by the sabacc cards. His face twisted in horror as the blue blade crackled as Fett tapped it against the floor.

“Please…please, sir! You don’t want to do this!” the man pleaded, blaster shaking in his grip.

“Oh,” Fett slashed the lightsaber through the man’s wrists, the blaster crashing to the floor as the man screamed in horror and pain before Fett stabbed the blade into the man’s stomach. “But I really kinda want to.”

He pulled the blade free and fired two shots through the man’s skull before turning away, the expressionless helmet now with droplets of blood crossing the visor as it searched for the remaining two troopers. Obi-wan easily spotted the one huddled by the door, crying into his comm still, begging for someone to save him. Fett spotted him, too, and fired off a single shot, a hole now burned through the trooper’s head as he slumped against the door.

The last trooper was a rookie and terrified of the situation he was in. Obi-wan could catch a whiff of urine as the shaking arm of the young man wrapped around his neck and jerked him upwards, the cold barrel of his blaster pressed to the Jedi’s head, “Sir, put the weapons down.”

The man was foolish but smart. Using Obi-wan as a hostage easily drew Fett’s attention, the head snapping to them like a predator who had just found his next meal. Fett strode a few steps towards them before stopping as the trooper pressed the gun harder to Obi-wan’s head, “Put the weapons down now, sir.”

“You gonna shoot him, boy?” Fett snarled, blaster up and pointed right down Obi-wan’s nose.

“If I have to, sir. Put the weapons down,” the troopers hand was still shaking, but it still didn’t change the fact that there was a weapon pressed to Obi-wan’s head. Out of the corner of his eye, Obi-wan saw Rex keeping Ahsoka down, eyes hard as he watched the men before him.

“You’ve made a really stupid move,” Fett growled as he turned off the lightsaber and dropped the weapons. Metal on metal echoed throughout the hanger, “Wanna know why?”

“Please, sir. Just stay there,” the trooper sounded close to crying. Possibly also close to shitting himself.

“Cuz I was going to make it really quick and painless for you. Now, “Fett took another straightened up. “Now I’m going to make you scream.”

Obi-wan wasn’t sure what happened after that, only that the next second he was being thrown aside as what felt like a train raced by him. He rolled over in time to see Fett slam the trooper into the wall hard enough to for a dent. The trooper was screaming, just like the others as Fett pulled a knife off his belt and slammed it through the gap in the side of the man’s armor and into his ribs with one hand while the other held the man in place, “Is there any back up coming?”

“No! Oh sith spawn it hurts!” the trooper screamed. “No, they’re not coming! Please!”

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Fett pulled the knife free before slamming it into the wall and jerking the man forward. He wrapped his hands around the man’s head and twisted, the snap of the troopers neck cracking like a gunshot.

Fett stood there, chest heaving, letting the body fall to the ground as his hands fell back to his sides. He suddenly jerked like a puppet on strings, ripping the helmet off his head and throwing it aside with a great roar. The helmet shattered as it connected with the wall in the same moment Fett slammed his hand into the wall. Like a switch being flipped, all the fight left the man and he slumped against the wall. Obi-wan glanced at the others before reaching out with his free hand for the lightsaber that now lay within reach.

He flicked it on and easily cut his bonds, feeling a rush of relief as the Force broke the damn the suppressants had created. As he turned to Kanen, hollow laughter filtered over to them. They all turned to the trooper, who was now sitting against the wall, head thrown back as he stared up at the ceiling, face in shadows.

“When I saw this day happening, it was that blade through my heart, not through someone else’s,” the man chuckled humorlessly. Obi-wan forced himself to relax and cut Kanen’s bonds before pulling their weapons to them, shoving Kanen’s lightsaber into his hands before making his way across the destroyed hanger, blade still lite. He heard the tell tale snap hiss of a lightsaber behind him, signaling that Kanen was going to free the others at least. The trooper didn’t move as Obi-wan drew level with him, the blue light of the lightsaber accenting his face with a cold light.

“They finally broke me, broke me real good,” the trooper said absently, fingers twitching against his knee. Obi-wan remained silent, studying the man he hadn’t seen in years. Unlike Rex and the others, this clone looked to have aged like a normal human, a few more lines on his face and a few hints of grey in his hair. Other than that, he looked very much like the young commander Obi-wan had fought side by side with all that time ago.

“I can see that,” Ob-wan knelt down next to the man, deactivating his lightsaber and attaching it to his hip. His hand came up and traced the line of white hair on the right side of his head, “Figured it out?”

“Too little, too late,” the man flinched at the touch, eyes finally meeting Obi-wan’s. Brown eyes met blue for the first time in years and Cody heaved out sigh, his lower lip trembling slightly, “I’m so sorry.”

“I can see that as well,” Obi-wan shifted his hand to Cody’s neck, feeling the clone’s racing pace under his fingers. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I don’t…I shouldn’t,” Cody pulled away as he stood, shifting away from Obi-wan. “I can’t…I’m not safe.”

“You took the chip out,” Obi-wan stood, facing Cody and catching the others in the corner of his eye again. Rex had a firm grip on Kanen’s arm, face thunderous as Ahsoka hovered nearby. Ezra had disappeared but Obi-wan could sense him aboard the shuttle, prepping her for a speedy get away. Obi-wan focused back on Cody, “We need you.”

“Chip might be out, but the thoughts are still there. You’ve probably seen it with them,” Cody glanced over at Rex. “We aren’t all there anymore. Imps broke us, broke us when no one thought we could be.”

“You aren’t broken, Cody,” Obi-wan huffed. “And you are coming with me. I did not let myself get captured so easily and come so far to see you disappear again.”

Cody never got the chance to answer, but Obi-wan saw it on his face. Cody didn’t have anywhere to go, didn’t believe he had anywhere to go but up that lift to his death. Obi-wan never got the chance to tell him that he always would have a home with the Jedi. Before either of the men could say anything, there was a rumble click overhead. Both looked up to see a turret slid out of its hold and angle down at the Jedi. Another came free above the shuttle and pointed at the others. Kanen and Ahsoka reacted on instant, lightsabers out to deflect the first shots. Obi-wan started to pull his blade free but knew he didn’t have time. Shouldn’t have had time. Shouldn’t still be thinking.

The train that had bypassed him earlier slammed into him this time, its target sure as the whirr of the automated system filled the air with blaster fire. A grunt of pain as Obi-wan was slammed into the ground, a wet wheeze as a body hit him and rolled away. The familiar recoil of his lightsaber deflecting blaster fire as Obi-wan stood. These were all sensations Obi-wan sensed from a distance as the Force filled with pain and fire and hopelessness. As the screams in the Force became one with the wheezing at his feet, Obi-wan felt like the world had dropped out from beneath him.

The familiar crack of a blaster shot ripped by Obi-wan’s ear and the blaster fire from above ceased. Shortly after, the blaster fire from the other side of the hanger stopped as well, silence descending upon them in a rush, the world breathing out before it all came rushing back, crashing over Obi-wan as the moment fractured as one single wet gasp reverberated throughout the hanger.

“Sir.”

Fingers, slick with blood, weakly gripped Obi-wan’s ankle, grounding him. Obi-wan immediately knelt, lightsaber falling from his hands as they gripped the shoulders before him, forcing the body on to its back as he took in the now blackened armor before him.

“Sir. Please.”

There was so much blood, it covered everything, leaking out of the holes in his chest and from Cody’s mouth as he gasped for air, a hand coming up to weakly grasp Obi-wan’s wrist.

“Run.”

And the world shattered.


	22. V is for Versatile

Cody didn’t know what to think of Duchess Satine. Since coming on board, Cody had had to deal with her a handful of times, mainly during public meetings between Obi-wan, Admiral Yularen, Anakin, Senator Amidala and the Duchess herself, but occasionally outside of the meetings. The Duchess was here to seek aid from the Republic after discovering the corruption of Prime Minister Almec. Yoda had sent Obi-wan and Anakin to aid Senator Amidala with setting up aid and protection for Mandalore in these turbulent times. Cody had stayed in his position just behind and to the right of Obi-wan, watching the proceedings in silence. Anakin had brought Ahsoka and Rex along onto Obi-wan’s cruiser and the two stayed by the wall in the conference room, just behind Anakin. Senator Organa had called into the meetings a few times but for the most part it was just those involved.

Cody actually missed the majority of the meetings, spending most of his time either on the bridge or in the war room overseeing the defense of Mandalore or aiding other commanders in their offenses around the galaxy. As the only Marshal Commander that the Clone Army had, Cody found himself often torn in multiple directions. He and Obi-wan jointly ran the Third Army, but he also found himself aiding other commanders and generals around the galaxy. Admiral Yularen counted on Cody to deal with their ground forces so he could focus on the fleet and that kept Cody plenty busy.

What little time Cody spent with Satine was spent completely confused by her. In the meetings, she was demanding and refused to compromise when it came to her people. No matter what relationship she had with the others in the room, she left it at the door. She even treated Padme coldly and as far as he knew, they were best friends. Although he could understand where she was coming from, seeing as when in battle he often treated Obi-wan and Rex with indifference. If either fell in battle, he would complete the mission, no matter what.

Outside of the meetings, it was like she shed a skin. She and Padme could be found laughing in the lounge they’d been given to relax in. He wasn’t sure what they were laughing about because they fell silent when they noticed him. Both women were polite with him but he felt like they were hiding something from him. He knew Padme and Anakin were hiding something since he’d caught them sneaking off a few times but he’d had to go see other matters at the time so he’d ignored them. If they had needed him, they would have let him know.

The way Satine acted around Obi-wan was the most troubling. Cody had know, through the many conversations Obi-wan and he had shared over the war that the man was very familiar with pleasures of the flesh. He’d even told Cody about a time when he had been no more than a Padiwan and had nearly abandoned the order because he had thought he’d been in love. That had led to a long explanation of what love was, why the Jedi weren’t actually against it just that it was discouraged until one had a good control over their powers and how come clones weren’t taught about love. One of these days, Obi-wan was going to start regretting having the “greatest” clone ever created as his commander, Cody just knew it. Cody was great in battle but put him into a civilian situation and he was clueless.

What Cody hadn’t know was that the former lover of his general was none other than Satine herself. From what he saw of them together, though, made Cody wonder if things were actually done between them. Obi-wan always had a fond smile on his face when they were talking and Satine seemed to unthaw a bit in the Jedi’s presence. Obi-wan also seemed to ignore Cody whenever the woman was around. Now, that usually wouldn’t bother Cody since it happened quite a bit to the clones, but when he and Obi-wan were in the middle of planning troop placements and Satine shows up, he really wished Obi-wan would remember what Cody had taught him about being a good soldier. Good soldiers didn’t let themselves get distracted. The Jedi had told Cody to finish the plans and wandered off with Satine as though the woman was more important than planetary defenses!

Cody figured what he was feeling might be jealousy, but he didn’t understand why he would be. After all, they weren’t anything to each other. There’d been the kiss in the alleyway and the one in Obi-wan’s quarters after Cody had been released from the medward. And the one Obi-wan had snuck in when Cody was leaving the Jedi’s quarters after another meeting. And there was the physical contact Obi-wan always seemed to find time for. The Jedi had taken to touching Cody more since the kiss, whether it be a hand on his shoulder or a pat on the back.

There hadn’t been a whole lot of time to figure whatever this was, though, since it had only been about a month since the holocron incident. So Cody was confused because he wasn’t sure what was going on between them and he didn’t think he had a right to complain to Obi-wan about how much time he was spending with Satine because they weren’t anything but…..

If anyone could help him with this, though, it was Rex. Cody knew a few of the men had gone to his friend for advice and as far as he knew, they all had very successful relationships with their significant others. Rex had also been able to answer a few questions for Cody that Obi-wan hadn’t, although he’d done so mockingly. How was Cody suppose to know what masturbation was when the trainers on Kamino only wanted good soldiers, not happy soldiers.

So Cody now found himself striding down the hall to Ahsoka’s quarters, where the man’s men had said he had gone to. Which was strange, because normally at this time of the day he was either in the hanger with his men, like Cody had first assumed, or up on the bridge with Cody being a nuisance to the older clone. Cody sighed as he drew level with Ahsoka’s door, because there was an ammo pack attached to the door. Why would there be an ammo pack attached to a Jedi’s door?

Cody pulled the ammo pack off the door as he knocked loudly, “Rex, I’m coming in. I need to talk to you.”

With that, he hit the control pad by the door to open the door, just like he had done any of the number of times he’d come and hung out with Ahsoka and Rex in the padiwan’s quarters, “Rex, I have a problem. I don’t under…Why is your hand up General Tano’s skirt?”

Rex was seated on Ahsoka’s bed, back against the wall as Ahsoka straddled his lap. The two were _kissing_ and Ahsoka’s top was missing as well as Rex’s shirt. One of Rex’s hands was on her neck while the other disappeared up her skirt. Cody stopped just in the door way as the door closed behind him, but even in the dim lighting he could see that both were flushed. Huh, he didn’t know a Togruta could heat up enough for their skin to change color.

Ahsoka let out a squeal and dove off Rex, pulling one of her blankets up and over her face so her body was completely covered. Rex was breathing hard and glaring at Cody. If he had his gun on him, he’d probably have it pointed at his friend’s head. As it were, most of his armor was laying around the room, as though quickly abandoned. Cody cocked his head to the side, eyebrow raised, “I interrupted something, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did, Cody. And if I didn’t know how little is actually up in that thing you call a brain, you’d be dead right now, “Rex growled before swinging his legs off the bed and moving so he was sitting between Cody and the quivering blanket that hid Ahsoka. “We left an ammo pack on the door.”

“And? Jedi don’t need ammo packs,” Cody threw said ammo pack to Rex, who caught it easily in his left hand, still glaring at his brother. Cody stared right back, knowing that Rex would break eventually. Rex’s energy and gunho attitude perfectly matched Cody’s more patient and cautious habits.

Rex sighed and threw the ammo pack on the floor, “Cody, remember when we talked about our brothers hooking up and might occasionally bring someone on board.”

“Which they can’t do, its against the regulations,” Cody countered. “Only cleared personal are aboard Republic vessels.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know. But remember when we talked about how they might not want to be disturbed?” Rex waved his hand absently.

“Yeah, the sock on the door handle, which is stupid because our doors don’t have….oh,” Cody paused, thoughtful for a second. “Ammo pack.”

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner,” Rex laughed humorlessly. “Can you please leave?”

“But I need your help. And I now have a couple questions,” Cody glanced at Ahsoka and Rex immediately shifted again, this time into Cody’s line of sight.

“Hey, no! Those questions are to be directed at Obi-wan! He can deal with some of this for once!” Rex snapped.

“But that’s why I’m here!” Cody threw up his hands.

“Obi-wan won’t give you the sex talk?” Ahsoka’s head popped up over Rex’s shoulder. “Really? Figured he’d be more than happy to at this point.”

“What does that mean?” Cody frowned at them. “First of all, I know how sex works. R2 helped me with that one, since for some reason he needed something else to scar C3PO with. Although why I needed to know that Hutts can change their genders to produce on their own is beyond me, but that can be fore another time. No, Obi-wan is the problem here.”

“How is Obi-wan the problem?” Rex grabbed Ahsoka’s top and handed it to her and she ducked back down behind his back. Cody paused for a second, unsure as to why every time he hung out with these two they acted like nothing was going on between them.

“You know I don’t really care if you’re naked, Ahsoka. You seem a lot more relaxed without your breasts being confined,” Cody started and Rex threw one of his shoulder plates at Cody’s head. The older clone just dodged it and gave Rex a horrified look, “What did I do this time?”

“Don’t talk about her breasts, Cody! Seriously, were your dropped when they removed you from your cylinder?” Rex hissed, face a little red.

“How is that relevant?” Cody frowned, even more confused now.

“Rex, ignore it for now,” Ahsoka moved out from behind Rex, now fully clothed. “What’s up with Obi-wan?”

“He’s being confusing,” Cody’s frown depended as he thought about his general. “He’s been different since Duchess Satine has come on board.”

“Well I would expect so, seeing as there is a history there,” Ahsoka nodded and both clones looked at her with wide eyes. “What? Seriously, everyone knows they had a thing way back when. He probably doesn’t know how to act around her now.”

“But he’s doing just fine around her,” Cody pulled out Ahsoka’s desk chair and sat down. “They’re spending a lot of time together.”

“Yeah, planning out how the troops will be stationed on the planet,” Rex nodded. “I’ve been to the meetings too.”

“No, outside of meetings,” Cody sighed. “He’s always going off with her when we’re working on stuff or meeting up with her in his free time. Whenever she’s around, Obi-wan ignores me for her. I don’t understand why. Are they getting back together?”

“Why do you think that?” Ahsoka gasped out while Rex just laughed and said, “Cody, you’re jealous!”

Ahsoka smacked Rex on the shoulder as the clone continued to laugh, “That’s not helping! Cody, why do you think they’re getting back together? They could just be acting like old friends and seeing what each other has done the past couple years is all.”

“Well, it doesn’t explain why Obi-wan is ignoring me. I mean, before we came here I thought maybe something was happening between us,” Cody felt his cheeks heat up a bit but powered through. “But then she shows up and now all Obi-wan has eyes for is her.”

“What do you mean, something was happening between you two?” Ahsoka looked ready to burst, eyes bright and her mouth pulled into a huge smile.

“Obi-wan do something and you didn’t tell me?” Rex had finally stopped laughing and actually looked a little hurt.

“Well, this is the first we’re seeing each other in a while and it wasn’t just something we could talk about over the comms,” Cody rubbed the back of his neck, feeling awkward. “I mean, he kissed me after our run in with Ventress and then again when he debriefed me after Meds let me go.”

“When you say debrief?” Rex was smiling like a lunatic now and Ahsoka smacked him again even though she was still smiling as well.

“Debrief, Rex, the thing we do after missions,” Cody glared at his brother. “And then he keeps touching me whenever we’re together but its only been a month so maybe I was seeing it all wrong.”

“So you two have kissed twice?” Ahsoka’s voice was a pitch higher than normal now.

“Three times, actually. Obi-wan kissed me again after a late night planning session,” Cody shrugged. “But there’s still Satine.”

“I think I need to have a talk with General Kenobi,” Rex started to rise, looking about ready to murder someone, but Ahsoka pulled him down.

“No, its just a misunderstanding,” Ahsoka laughed. “I know what’s going on. Cody, you just need to go talk to Obi-wan about how you feel and it will all make sense.”

“How I feel? Why would he want to know how I feel?” Cody frowned again. If he was feeling unwell, he should go to Meds.

“Yeah, like how you really care for him and you’re confused about how he’s been treating you. You two just need to talk this whole thing out and it’ll all make sense, I promise,” Ahsoka smiled brightly. “Now leave, please. Rex and I have things to discuss as well.”

“Is it about the hand up your skirt?” Cody stood, now curious. “I didn’t understand that, either.”

“Just leave!” Rex threw another piece of armor at him, this time one of his gauntlets and Cody ducked before making for the door.

“You will explain this to me, Rex!” Cody called back as the door slid open and Cody turned, confused as to why it would be opening when he hadn’t hit the button yet.

“Commander,” Obi-wan looked surprised to see him there. “What are you doing here?”

“I was talking to Captain Rex and General Tano, sir,” Cody nodded crisply. Behind him, he heard Rex groan and Ahsoka giggle. “But I was just leaving. They have things to discuss that should not be spoken of in polite company I guess.”

“Did you need something, Master?” Ahsoka appeared by Cody’s side, looking a little flushed again.

“I was just searching for Cody, actually,” Obi-wan cleared his throat. “The men said that your were looking for Rex so I figured I would try here.”

“Oh good! Cody’s has things he needs to discuss with you,” Rex called from the bed. “I refuse to handle the topic of sex with him!”

“But earlier,” Cody started and Ahsoka gave him a shove that sent him into Obi-wan and two stumbled away from the door and into the wall as the door behind them slammed shut. Obi-wan caught him and braced himself on the wall, looking a little amused.

“That padiwan sure is demanding,” Obi-wan laughed as he helped Cody straighten up, hands staying on Cody’s shoulders. “You had something you wanted to discuss?”

“Ah yeah, actually,” Cody looked down. “Probably in your quarters?”

“I agree. I wanted to speak to you anyways. Satine has pointed out that I’ve been neglecting you,” Obi-wan gestured down the hallway and the two fell into step.

“I can understand though, sir. You haven’t seen each other and you have a history,” Cody shrugged. “A mere clone can’t measure up to that.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Obi-wan frowned, stopping.

“Well, you’ve known her a while and she is more experienced than me with….things,” Cody flushed again, looking down.

“Oh, Cody, she was right,” Obi-wan sighed, but before he could continue, Ahsoka’s door flew open and a frustrated Rex stuck his head out of the open doorway.

“You two idiots love each! Cody loves Obi-wan and Obi-wan loves Cody, it’s that simple! NOW GO AWAY!” with that, the door slammed shut again, leaving the two men blushing and not making eye contact.

“He can be rather blunt at times,” Cody broke the silence finally.

“But well meaning,” Obi-wan nodded. “Who all do you think heard that?”

“Not the entire ship?” Cody glanced around. No one appeared, so they might be safe, “I understand if you don’t want to have any relations with me outside of.”

Obi-wan cut him off with a kiss, pushing Cody against the wall. When he pulled away, the Jedi looked amused once more, “Commander, please. I think we have a lot to discuss back in my quarters but first and for most. I want relations with you, no matter what sort they are.”

“Oh. But Satine?”

“She’s an old friend who’s enjoyed listening to me try to figure you and me out. Probably as much as Rex and Ahsoka.”

“But they don’t enjoy it.”

“Exactly.”


	23. W is for Weary

Since the Death Star had been moved from the Maw, Cody had found himself and the _Enforcer_ back out on Outer Rim patrol. Darth Vader and his _Executor_ had taken up the protection of the Death Star, leaving Cody free to terrorize the now unruly reaches of the Empire. The fools they had sent in his place had let a lot slip through. The Hutts were almost back up to full strength and the incompetence of the others had allowed the Rebel forces to grow rampant. Cody now had the all too important task of taking his fleet and bringing order back to the Outer Rim. Easier said in done, as always.

He was mostly healed from his injuries sustained a little over a three years ago, but his babysitter was still on hand to make sure things were going smoothly. Cody didn’t mind, actually. Having the young Commander Marta Tate there to do most of the grunt work was very nice. He was more mobile than when she had first come on board, but he was nowhere near his peak physical form. He had days where he couldn’t get out of his bed still, the pain crippling. Marta liked to joke that even his unwavering loyalty to the Empire wasn’t enough to get him out of bed on those days.

Marta was an interesting new piece to the game Palpatine was playing. He wondered what the girl had done to gain Palpatine’s trust so completely. He wouldn’t send just any lackey to make sure Cody got the job done. He wouldn’t trust just anyone with this job, especially for this long. Maybe that’s why she was so confident in her place. She didn’t know how easily Cody could ruin her. He knew about her relations to a young smuggler that ran supplies for the rebels. He was a nice young man, full of promise. He was sure that if Marta was not working for the Empire, they’d be off together somewhere right now. He could easily ignore the implications of her dalliance with the young man, but he liked to think he was more paranoid than Palpatine and he had a very good idea what all the two were exchanging while behind closed doors besides pleasures of the flesh.

He didn’t think Marta was actually going to try something, especially aboard the Enforcer. She knew the crew was loyal to Cody, mostly out of fear. Cody had forgotten, after so many years under Palpatine’s fist, that there were other emotions that could be used that held more sway than the fear of a superior officer. Those stupid rebels and their hope of a brighter future. He forgot how much hope had changed the battlefield back when he served under a Jedi General. Now he was remembering as he stared down the barrel of Marta’s pistol, her face twisted into a look of victory.

“Surrender, Admiral,” she smirked down at him from where she had knocked him to the ground just after the engines had cut out mid-jump, dropping them into the middle of a Rebel fleet, their weapons primed and ready to fire upon his _Enforcer_. Cody had ordered a full barrage from their cannons only to find a mutiny on his hands as those Marta had turned to the Rebels disarming his men and taking over his ship. She had slammed her fist into his back, dropping him to the ground and forcing him into the situation he now found himself in.

“And why would I do such a thing?” Cody growled, slowly standing but keeping his hands at shoulder height, his back smarting from the blow.

“Because it would be stupid on you not to,” Marta said simply, smiling never leaving her face. She must be feeling so proud of herself, thinking she’s defeated. He is not defeated yet, but he’s not ready to make his move just yet.

“Alright, my dear,” Cody moved into his chair he had installed into the bridge shortly after he started walking again. He rested his elbows on the arms of the chair and looked up at her over his steeped fingers, “You win.”

“I do?” She hesitated now, not expecting it to be this easy. Good, just the reaction he wanted.

“Of course. You have the high ground here. My ship is in disarray, you have a gun pointed at me and we’re surrounded. You have me in a corner here, Commander,” Cody drew out the last word, leaning back in his chair. “I would be made to look the fool if I tried anything now and I would be wasting quite a few decent lives. A few of the crew has some promise, although the number has dropped greatly in the last few minutes.”

“I’d watch what I was saying, Admiral,” Marta snarled, steadying her hand as she glared at him. “You are at my mercy here.”

“So I am,” Cody leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Do make sure there is tea at the negotiations. I’ve found that its calming properties tends to make clear thinkers of all present.”

“What negotiations? You are in no position here to even think that you can have a say in whatever happens to you,” Marta laughed at him and Cody felt his smile grow more as he kept his eyes closed.

“Not only am I a fountain of information for your precious Rebels, I also am in control of this ship,” Cody relaxed a little more, letting on hand fall to the arm of his chair, popping open a control panel he knew Marta didn’t know was there. “I am more than willing to blow her up to get my point across. I wonder how many of those Rebel ships I could take with me.”

He heard the click of a heel and assumed Marta had taken a step back. He finally let his smile slip away to the blank mask he always wore, “Call your negotiators, Commander, and don’t waste anymore of my time. You know exactly what I am capable of so don’t push me.”

“This is Commander Tate,” Her voice filled the silence that echoed after his words sunk in. “I have the bridge. Send over the team. Admiral Fett would like to negotiate terms of surrender.”

“Negotiate? Please clarify,” the crisp voice that answered sounded almost like a droid. “The generals here would like me to remind you that the Admiral has no place to negotiate at this point.”

“He’s threatening to blow up the _Enforcer_ ,” was all Marta said, voice and devoid of emotion. “With himself along with it.”

Silence seemed to stretch on until, “A team is being sent over immediately.”

“How about that tea now, my dear? You seem a bit shaken,” Cody’s smile now had a bit of a feral edge to it as he opened his eyes and watched the pale woman before him.

*~*~*

Marta had moved them from the bridge to the conference room, which made little difference to Cody. He could make his move from either location. Marta seemed to understand that because not long after they had relocated, a droid had arrived with the tea he had requested. He went through the motions of preparing his cup of tea, including the little scoop of the dried root he had shipped in from the Core. It helped him sleep at night and eased the tension in his back. He had no doubt that the next few hours were going to be trying on him, so might as well give himself a little bit of an edge early on.

He’d just set down the teapot after filling his cup when the doors at the end of the room swished open and a group entered. Marta straightened from her position against the wall, where she had been leaning up till now, pistol still in hand. Cody sat up a little straighter, his mask firmly in place as he brought on hand to rest on the control panel on the table next to him. Might as well remind them why they were here.

First to enter was a couple of rebel soldiers, nodding to Marta. When she nodded back, they glanced out the open door and three more entered. Here, finally, were the beings the Rebels had sent to negotiate with him. First in, striding more confidently than she ever did in the shadow of Anakin Skywalker, was Ahsoka Tano. The Togruta had grown quite a bit since he had last seen her all those years ago, filling out into a wonderful specimen of her species. Behind her came a cloaked figure, obviously a Jedi from the glimpse of a hilt that Cody caught before the figure pulled his robe tightly around himself. The man’s hood was up so Cody was unable to identify him, but he still caught the tension in his shoulders the very second the man caught sight of Cody’s face. Interesting, he’d have to figure out who this man was. He obviously had a history with Cody, would be interesting to see what it was.

The last to enter was obviously a clone, seeing as the armor he was wearing resembled that of a clone. The only pieces he was wearing, however, were his boots, shin guards, chest plate, gauntlets, shoulder guards, and his helmet. All were marked with blue and those markings on the helmet were oddly familiar…

“Captain Rex, how kind of you to return to the war,” Cody focused back on stirring his tea calmly. Obviously Marta had told them he was a clone and thought the people before him could get him to stand down. How foolish, really. If the Rebels had any real dealings with clones, they would know that a clone in the Empire was something truly dangerous, “I see you’ve let yourself go, sadly. After I read the reports on Seelos, I figured you had kept up with your training. It seems it was just a bit of good luck and poor training.”

“Cody?” Rex pulled his helmet off, surprise on his face. He’d lost the blonde hair, having gone bald but grown out a beard. Cody couldn’t keep the look of disgust off his face as he took a sip of his tea.

“Yes, that is my first name. What is that thing growing on your face?” Cody shook his head. “Such a waste of potential.”

“Its really you,” Rex breathed out, looking a little amused. “Knew you weren’t dead. Wolffe owes me ten credits.”

“Yes, I heard you were running around with Gregor and Wolffe,” Cody waved his free hand absently. “If I remember correctly, you were sent here to negotiate my terms of surrender, not trade pleasantries.”

“That we were, Admiral, “Ahsoka nodded, sliding into the chair directly across from him. Rex plopped down into the chair on her right and the Jedi gracefully sat down on her left. Cody glanced at Marta and she just sent back to leaning against the wall. Cody returned his attention to Ahsoka, taking another sip of his tea and raising an eyebrow expectantly. Ahsoka sighed and continued, “When Marta told us that it was a clone that was behind Admiral Fett, we were very relieved.”

“Worried it was dear old Boba come back to haunt you?” Cody let a smirk crack his mask for a second. “Last I checked, he’s making a fortune working for Jabba the Hutt. I was actually on my way to pay the creature a visit.”

“You being a clone did ease some tensions with in the higher echelons of the Rebel forces,” Ahsoka nodded, folding her hands on the table delicately. “Although, it was only for a few seconds. Those of us from the Clone Wars realized that if it was a clone in charge of such a powerful fleet, we were dealing with someone very dangerous. You have not let us down.”

“I always strive to please others,” Cody snarked back at her. “You may try to stall all you want, your technicians will not be able to remove my power over the _Enforcer_ without some major miracle. It will take them months to crack the firewalls alone. So how about you stop avoiding the situation and get to the point, Commander?”

Cody couldn’t help the sneer that crept to his lips as he turned up his nose at the beings before him. After years of being under the thumbs of others, Cody was finally in a position of power. Deep down it brought him deep satisfaction to look at the Jedi he and his brothers had been created to fight for and know that if things were just a little different, he would be ordering them around.

“Of course, Admiral,” Ahsoka inclined her head slightly. “I am actually only here as a representative of the Rebels. My friend here shall be doing most of the negotiating with you.”

She gestured to the man on her left, who finally pulled his hood back. Cody felt like an ice pick had been driven into his brain at the sight of such a familiar face, a face that had haunted him in his dreams and in his waking hours. Obi-wan Kenobi had aged well, his hair and beard peppered with grey and his wrinkles weren’t anything horrible. Those thoughts were immediately shoved aside as order after order streamed through his mind, one after the other marching mockingly before his closed eyes. Palpatine’s voice echoing in the confines of his mind, telling him he had failed, had to complete Order 66, had to kill so many people.

All of this passed through his mind in a matter of seconds and Cody quickly pushed the pain aside with a deep breath, school his features before opening his eyes, brown meeting blue with only a slight crack in his armor. Obi-wan raised an eyebrow at him and Cody slowly sat up straight, not letting his eyes wander as he solidified his mask even more, “Traitor Kenobi. What a wonderful surprise.”

Obi-wan’s mouth quirked up at the corner, his eyebrow settling back down into its normal position, “I see we are just as pleasant as always, Admiral. I am happy that I am not being fired upon by a cannon, however.”

“If I had known you were on those Rebel vessels, I would have blown up the _Enforcer_ immediately,” Cody snarled. “And it would have been a good death.”

“Ah, I see,” Obi-wan’s mouth fell into a straight line. “How unfortunate. This makes things a little harder.”

“Cody, you still have the chip in, don’t you?” Rex cut in, leaning forward and looking curiously at the side of Cody’s head.

“I do, Captain, because a good soldier always follows orders,” Cody snapped. “The chip was to remain in, no matter the consequences.”

“And you never wondered why we had a chip in our brains and the civilians didn’t?” Rex pressed. Cody hesitated for a second and he caught the look of triumph in the other clone’s eyes.

“It was not our place. They made us more efficient, better able to function in the high stress situations we found ourselves in,” Cody forced out, hiding the momentary weakness on his part. He knew exactly what the chips for, had known for far longer than Rex had. Palpatine had told him, right after the one clone had malfunctioned and killed his Jedi Master. Had told him and then ordered him not to tell a soul or to ever remove his chip. Had activated one of the orders imbedded in the blasted thing to keep Cody silent and compliant to the very end.

“Ah,” Obi-wan sat back and Cody caught understanding in his eyes. “The picture is getting clearer and clearer. I am curious, however, why you have not pushed that button yet. You said it yourself, it would make for a good death. And you would be taking a good portion of the Rebel forces with you.”

Cody jerked back, as if slapped. His head was starting to hurt and he forced himself to take a sip of tea to calm himself. In reality, he was forcing himself not to hit the button. As soon as he recognized Ahsoka he’d felt the urge to slam his fist into it with a cry of triumph for the Empire. But he had stopped himself, that was not how one negotiated civilly.

“That would have been so uncivilized,” Cody scoffed, covering for his momentary lapse in concentration. “I called you here for negotiations, Traitor Kenobi, not murder. The terms of my surrender are very simple. Those of the crew that have betrayed myself and the Empire stay with you and your lot. The men who remained loyal to the Emperor shall be returned to their rightful positions in the Empire within three months. I was going to make it one, but seeing as how pitiful your fleet is I shall extend the timeframe for you.”

“Oh, is that all?” Obi-wan leaned forward, slightly amused once again. Rex looked uneasy and kept glancing at Ahsoka, who looked fascinated in the discussion.

“You will return my men or I will not willingly provide any information I have. And I am much more informed than Commander Tate is, believe me,” Cody took a sip of his tea, raising an eyebrow at the Rebels. “I’m sure by now she’s told you about the Death Star but there is more in the Maw than she’s been informed of. Yes, my dear, Emperor Palpatine didn’t actually trust you as completely as you thought.”

“And he trusts you?” Marta scoffed, unphased.

“Why not?” Cody chuckled hollowly. “With a simple word, he has guaranteed my silence and my loyalty. That, Captain, is the true power behind those chips. Something those Kaminoians never fore saw.”

“So the information will not be given willingly,” Ahsoka sat back, looking annoyed.

“Oh, it will be,” Cody stared down his nose at her. “You have already thought of how and no matter what I say you will go forward with your plan. You agreeing with my terms guarantees that I come willingly to your ship with you. From there I am at your mercy. How exciting this must be for you.”

“You really are a pompous ass, Admiral,” Obi-wan snorted, shaking his head. “Are there anymore terms?”

“The _Enforcer_ ,” Cody sat back, setting his cup down. “She is very dear to me. I would like your promise that the Rebels will treat her with kindness and respect. I don’t care if she becomes a part of the Rebel fleet, I do care though if you plan on ripping her to shreds.”

“The current plan for the _Enforcer_ is to do some modifications so she is up to Rebel specifications and then turn her over to a capable crew,” Ahsoka stated matter a factly. “You have my promise and that of the rest of the Rebel leaders as well.”

“So we are in agreement?” Cody folded his hands together, all his focus on Ahsoka.

“Yes, we are, Admiral,” Ahsoka nodded and stood, holding out her hand, looking expectantly at him.

“Good, it seems everything is in order then,” Cody nodded before resting his hand back on the control pad and pressing one of the buttons. “It has been a pleasure, as always, dealing with Rebel scum such as yourselves.”

“What have you done?” Marta brought her pistol up as Cody felt the familiar cool feeling wash over him. Ahsoka had her lightsaber in hand now and Rex stood, chair toppling behind him as he drew his two pistols with ease. Obi-wan remained seated, looking sad and possibly disappointed.

“Guaranteeing my willingness,” Cody smiled slightly before the coldness wrapped around his brain and pulled tight, sending him spiraling into darkness.

*~*~*

Cody woke slowly, feeling like he was coming up from underwater. It felt like part of his brain was missing or silent, making him feel off balanced. He forced himself to breath through his nose as he felt panic rising up inside him. There was always that familiar hum on the edge of his thoughts, reminding him of his purpose and duty to the Empire. How he hated the Empire and all it stood for. All the pain and suffering he had endured for the stupid Emperor. All the blood he had shed for an empty cause. One of these days he was going to ram the _Enforcer_ right into the Emperor’s palace and see how the man liked the shoe being on the other foot for once.

Wait…had he…he had.

Cody couldn’t keep the laugh that bubbled up from escaping, sounding a little wheezy to his own ears. For so many years, that bloody chip had silenced any thoughts of dissent or rebellion, keeping him loyal no matter what. Now he was free and although that was a terrifying thought for him after so many years under its control, Cody couldn’t think of a moment he had been happier.

“I’m going to burn that blasted ship to the ground,” Cody snorted at the end, elated to finally be able to say what he wanted to.

“The Emperor is a whiny little baby who can go jump off a cliff for all I care,” Cody couldn’t help giggling at that one.

“The stormtroopers are a bunch of undertrained and lackluster children who can’t tell the trigger from the barrel,” Cody outright laughed at that one. “Greatest army in the galaxy, my ass.”

“Are you quite finished?” a familiar deep baritone cut in, sounding only a little amused. Cody’s eyes snapped open and then slammed shut as the room spun violently. A hand rested on his forehead and something cool washed over him.

“Open them slowly this time,” the voice said gently and Cody did as told. The world stayed right as he slowly cracked his eyes open and he kept his focus on the man who was leaning over him. Mace Windu had a few more wrinkles around his eyes and he looked a little bit more worn down, but he was still as intimidating as back during the war.

“Looking good for a dead guy,” Cody forced out and Mace chuckled, sitting back in his chair.

“It wasn’t the first time I was thrown out of a window,” Mace gave him a small smile. “Takes a lot more to keep me down.”

“I’m seeing that,” Cody shifted in the bed a little till he was more comfortable. Mace handed him a remote and Cody used it to sit the bed up a bit. He felt shaky, not all there and he was more than happy to stay in the bed as long as he was required to, “Seems like you guys didn’t hold back on the good stuff.”

“Had to keep you out for a while. Some complications came up as we were getting ready to operate,” Mace shrugged, folding his hands together. “Plus our doctors decided to poke at your back a little since you were compliant.”

“Doctors never know when to not do something,” Cody sighed as he reached up, feeling the bandage wrapped around his head. “You said complications?”

“You forgot to mention you had two chips in your head,” Mace raised an eyebrow at him. “Made things a little tricky.”

“More like I couldn’t say anything about the second chip. More orders for me than for a mere captain or foot soldier,” Cody shrugged, finally looking around the room. It was the familiar sterile white of a hospital room and was lined with cabinets and cupboards that held who knows what. He had quite a few machines situated around the head of his bed and he had a clear view of the door as well. There were more chairs in the room than he figured might normally be allowed but the only one occupied was the one Mace was in.

“They’ll be back eventually,” Mace followed his eyes around the room. “I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Make sure I woke up me,” Cody nodded. “I won’t lie…feels kinda empty up there.”

“We’re found that with the longer the chip was in after activation, the more complications there are after the removal,” Mace sighed. “Takes a while to remember how to think without the voice up there telling you how.”

“I’ve got fifteen years of things that I’ve wanted to say but couldn’t. I think I’ll be fine,” Cody chuckled.

“That won’t be the only problem,” Mace looked at him pointedly. “There’s also fifteen years of blood on your hands. The chip being out doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to a few people around here.”

“I’ll be sure to cry during my trial then. Mace, to be perfectly honest, I really don’t care,” Cody tapped his head lightly. “This is mine again, for however long I get. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, all I’ve ever dreamed of. The past fifteen years for me have been a nightmare and even just waking up for a little bit is enough for me.”

“They want you dead,” Mace frowned at him, leaning forward. “Quite a few want you to pay for what you’ve done.”

“I don’t care. I really just don’t care anymore. I’m tired of the blood and the fighting. They can do whatever they want and it won’t make a difference to me. I’m tired, Mace, just plain tired,” Cody let out a deep sigh. “I’m done, I’m not going to fight it, whatever it is. My bones hurt I’m so tired. So let them come, I don’t care.”

“They won’t be coming,” Mace said softly, nodding slightly. “Once you’re cleared to be moved, Obi-wan will be taking you to Rex’s place, where you’ll be under watch from one of Ahsoka’s cells. No more fighting, no more running.”

“I like the sound of that,” Cody smiled a little. “I think I can do that.”

“Obi-wan has volunteered to make sure you take it easy,” Mace smiled back. “I’m sure you two had plenty to talk about as it is.”

“Yeah…more than a little.”


	24. X is for Xeroflulogitis

When Bail had sent them on this hunt for a former Imperial General who had information for them, Rex figured it would be relatively simple. Since joining up with Ahsoka and her little cell of Rebels, it had been full steam ahead for them. This though, this was something he knew how to do. Go in, locate a contact, get the info and go. Simple in and out, nothing too difficult. Or it wouldn’t be if Kanen trusted him to do this. Ahsoka’s original plan was to send him and Sabine in to the bar, make contact with the bartender who had a lead on the general for them and then get out. Kanen didn’t like the idea of Rex being unsupervised. Sabine didn’t like that Kanen didn’t trust her or Rex. Mandos stuck together like that.

So far Sabine and Ezra had warmed up the most to him. Hera was indifferent but they’d had a pleasant conversation here or there. She was also a good source on information on the rest of his brothers working for the Rebels. He was surprised by how many there were and was looking forward to running into a few. Of course, there was one name he was almost anxious to see show up on one of the roster lists. One brother he almost was desperately searching for and had been since the Clone Wars ended.

Ending up in Mos Eisley for this mission caused a few chuckles between Ahsoka and Rex. They’d ended up on this planet quite a few times over the wars and it had stopped hurting to think about Anakin’s grumblings of the planet. He was wondering, though, what had drawn a former Imperial general to a place such as this. There were no creature comforts here and the being had to be constantly looking over their shoulder. What sort of idiot would willingly put themselves into this position?

As soon as Hera had confirmed they were securely on the ground, Ezra had wanted to go exploring. Rex could remember Ahsoka being so damn enthusiastic and she must’ve caught his train of thought because he ended up getting smacked on the back of the head as he moved past him to the back of the ship, “I was never as jumpy as Ezra.”

“You were plenty of jumpy,” Rex winked at her as he stood. “Just a different kind of jumpy is all.”

“Save it for the bunk,” Sabine shoved Rex in the back as they made their way to the cargo hold. Kanen followed along behind, grumbling all the while. Hera stayed up in the cockpit with Chopper, probably happy to have all of them gone for at least a few hours. She was a good pilot, which meant she hated back seat drivers. There were a few on this ship. Zeb was staying behind, too, saying something about having pissed off a few too many people here.

As the ramp lowered for them, Ahsoka tensed and focused outwards, back to Rex. His hand immediately fell to his blaster and he moved so he was covering her back, watching just as intently. The ramp finally got low enough to reveal a cloaked figure waiting for them. They held up their hands, showing that they meant no harm. Ahsoka let out a laugh before running down the ramp and throwing herself at the being, pulling them into a hug, “Its been too long!”

“That it has,” the being laughed as he hugged Ahsoka back. The force of Ahsoka slamming into him had forced his hood to fall back, revealing an old and worn face, but a familiar one none the less.

“Kenobi!” Rex boomed out, striding down the ramp. “Is that you?”

“Rex?” Obi-wan pulled away from Ahsoka, looking surprised for a second before smiling. “My gods, man, what’s that on your face?”

“Like it? Makes me seem wise and crap,” Rex stroked his beard fondly before pulling Obi-wan in for a bear hug. Obi-wan tensed for a second before hugging him back, tightly. Rex patted him on the back before pulling away, still smiling, “Never though I’d be seeing you again.”

“Yes, well, things have been….tense as of late,” Obi-wan rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at Ahsoka. “So, looking for a former Imperial general now?”

“How did you know?” Ezra gasped, moving forward so he was standing to the right and behind Rex. He obviously recognized Obi-wan from the holocube Kanen had given him. Obi-wan had better be ready for some serious hero worship from those two.

“The Force, young one, is a powerful thing,” Obi-wan gave Ezra a small smile. “As your master should have taught you. A Jedi is nothing if he or she does not trust in the Force.”

“Still doesn’t explain how you knew it was a former Imperial general,” Sabine looked a little impressed at least. “Hooky religion can only explain so much, old man.”

“Oh, I like her,” Obi-wan laughed. “Always finding the most interesting people, you two are.”

“She’s asking a very good question, though,” Ahsoka crossed her arms. “Bail was oddly specific about the whole plan.”

“He couldn’t just tell you where I was over a comm frequency,” Obi-wan shrugged, looking amused. “And the original plan was for you to meet me at the bar, but the plan has recently changed.”

“How recently are we talking?” Ahsoka raised an eyebrow.

“Last night, I do believe,” Obi-wan said thoughtfully. “I had been tracking this man through a few systems and he’d finally stopped moving when he got here. I tailed him from a distance and called Bail to send me a team. Or at least, I thought I had been tailing him. Turns out the man who I had been tailing was in fact one of the men holding the former general captive here on Tatooine.”

“So now its an extraction?” Kanen sighed. “We’ll need Zeb then.”

“Oh, no, I already took care of that. Rather easy, actually. The hard part was getting the general out. They’d just recently unfrozen him from carbonite. The men holding him were mercs who had hit an Imperial convoy and removed the general thinking he was of importance. And he is, of course, but more to us than the Imperials, “Obi-wan sighed sadly. “He’d contacted Bail before he made a run for it and got grabbed before he got off Courasant. Bail contacted me and I’ve been following his trail since, if you must know.”

“Jumping all over the place here, Master,” Ahsoka shook her head. “Let me see if I’m following, though. Our general contacted Bail because he wanted to defect, but when he tried the Imperials got him and froze him in carbonite?”

“Its seems to be a favored form of containment of one Moff Tarkin,” Obi-wan nodded.

“The mercs hit an Imperial convoy, not realizing what was on it and took the general, thinking he was important. They unfroze him and you got him out of there?” Ahsoka sighed. “Where is he now?”

“In the storage bay over there,” Obi-wan nodded to a side chamber off the hanger. “He’s only partly blind but too much activity makes him jumpy.”

“So then why did we come all the way here if you already have it handled?” Kanen grumbled, crossing his arms and looking like he usually grumpy self.

“I can’t really get us off the planet,” Obi-wan glanced at Kanen. “Working on patience and understanding might help you strengthen your connection to the force.”

“I still don’t understand why we are here?” Kanen focused on Ahsoka, choosing to ignore the older Jedi.

“It wasn’t safe for him to contact us or Bail,” Ahsoka sighed and Rex could just see her forcing her self not to yell at Kanen. “If the Imperials froze him in carbonite to keep him from running away, then he knows something pretty important. Where were they taking him?”

“Kessel. Not sure if they were going to unfreeze him there and have him serve out a life sentence or just store him there,” Obi-wan shrugged before looking at the door to the storage room, frowning. “The rest of you, stay with the ship. I want only Rex and Ahsoka to come with me. I’ll explain more once we’re someplace a little more secure.”

“We’ll start a scan of the hanger,” Sabine grabbed Ezra and dragged him up the ramp, the boy going willingly but looking hopefully back at Obi-wan. The older Jedi graced him with a small smile, clearly already fond of the young boy.

“And why can it only be them?” Kanen crossed his arms, not looking like he was ready to leave. Rex sighed and gently shoved past Obi-wan, deciding the Jedi could deal with the nonsense that was Kanen. The man didn’t trust him, it was that simple. Behind him he could here the quiet thunder that was Obi-wan Kenobi when he was pissed. Man, he’d really missed that old crazy coot.

Rex slapped the pressure pad next to the door to the storage room a little harder than necessary, but he didn’t care. He’d been stuck with Kanen for a few months now and his patience was wearing pretty thin. At least Kenobi was here now to teach the man a few manners. The door slide open before him to reveal a dimly lit room filled with the odd storage container and useless junk. A figure sat hunched over on a container that shoved against the far wall, head in his hands. His grey hair was cut short but was a little too long to be military regulation. He appeared to soft around the edges but Rex could just catch the hint of muscle under his Imperial uniform, which hung a little too loosely off his shoulders. The jacket was open, showing the stained and untucked undershirt.

“Come to kill me?” the all too familiar voice sent chills down Rex’s back and he froze in the doorway as he took a little bit longer to observe the figure before him. His shoulders were narrower than Rex’s but he was just as tan and just world-weary as every other clone Rex had run into. All the signs were there now that he was looking, from the calloused hands that only got that way from carrying a blaster since they were children to the way he was hunched over, back still held straight from years of military training.

The clone must’ve took Rex’s silence as his answer because he gave a heavy sigh before letting his hands fall away from his face to rest clasped in his lap, “I thought I could trust him, I guess I was wrong.”

With his face now uncovered, Rex had a better look at the facial features of his brother. Even with his face tilted towards the ground, Rex could pick up on how his skin was tight around his eyes, showing the pain he was trying to hide. Rex could remember his rather short time in carbonite as clearly as it was yesterday and winced as he thought about how long this guy might’ve been under. Not to mention any interrogation he might have gone though before being frozen. His eyes scanned over the wrinkles at that lined the clone’s face and came to stop on the scar that wrapped around the left side of his face. There was only one clone he knew of ever having a scar like that and he wasn’t about to forget that brother any day now.

“Cody,” Rex breathed out, moving forward and pulling his brother into a tight hug. Cody tensed immediately, trying to pull away, but Rex held on tighter, “Its me, its Rex. I’ve got you.”

Cody stayed tense against him for a second longer before he fell against Rex, burying his face into the other clone’s shoulder and gripping the back of Rex’s tunic tightly. Rex could feel the full body shivers that were running through Cody, possibly a side effect of the carbonite fever, possibly from just being Cody. The guy had no one to watch his back, he was probably running off of stims and caf most of the time.

“Please be real,” Cody whispered almost desperately, fingers clenching and unclenching.

“I’m as real as they come, brother,” Rex murmured back, running a hand soothingly over Cody’s back. “Kenobi and I have got you, its ok. Its going to be ok.”

Rex didn’t know how long they stood there, Cody clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping Cody here. He only relaxed his hold on his brother when Cody pulled away, wiping at his face, “Damn carbonite.”

“Sure, it’s the carbonite,” Rex gave a weak smile as he rested a hand on Cody’s shoulder, really getting a good look at him. The guy looked exhausted, about ready to fall over but unable to fall asleep. His cheeks were flushed but his skin was pale under the tan. He was squinting at Rex now, eyes darting over his face as he took in his brother.

“I’m either still having trouble seeing or there is something living on your face,” Cody said matter a factly, try to draw the attention to something else.

“I think I said the same thing earlier,” Obi-wan spoke up from the doorway, not too loudly but enough so that they could be heard. Rex still felt Cody flinch under his hand.

“I like it. Makes him seem more rough,” Ahsoka stated as she stepped forward, carefully pulling Cody into a hug. “I’m glad you’re safe, Codes. Had me worried there.”

“Hey, kid,” Cody forced out, shoulders tense again but relaxing marginally when he realized Ahsoka wasn’t attacking him. Rex could see the hurt in her eyes as the younger Jedi pulled away, letting Obi-wan move closer, an arm wrapping around the former commander almost protectively. Huh, how had Rex missed that one.

“What’s the plan?” Rex asked as he looked between Obi-wan and Cody. Obi-wan caught his eyes and Rex raised eyebrow, impressed to see a little blush rising on the Jedi’s cheeks.

“The ship isn’t big enough for all of us,” Ahsoka crossed her eyes, although she probably meant it wasn’t big enough to keep Cody away from Kanen. “Sabine is securing us a ship that will leave tomorrow. The others will leave tonight and hopefully draw off anyone on our tail.”

“They’ll always find us,” Cody’s eyes darted around the room, still struggling to focus on any one thing. “They’ll never give up.”

“We’ll good thing you’re with us then,” Obi-wan forced a smile. “Because neither do we.”

“I know a few good backwater hideouts we can hold up in for a few months,” Rex nodded. “Just need supplies, which we can get anywhere. Need to switch ships, too, at some point. Shouldn’t be too hard. The boys will want to know, though.”

“Boys? There’s more of us?” Cody breathed out, face tight again.

“Quite a few. I’m just keeping Rex away from them because I don’t need anymore trouble on my hands than he already causes,” Ahsoka laughed. “But maybe its time we brought the gang back together.”

“As long as I get shotgun, I am ok with anything,” Rex smiled brightly at her.

“Are they making eyes? I can’t tell, things are still blurry at a distance,” Cody leaned against Obi-wan and Rex did not miss how happy Obi-wan looked at that.

“Be happy you can’t see right now. Its absolutely disgusting,” Obi-wan laughed, smiling at the others as he pulled Cody closer, if it was possibly. “I think we’re in good hands.”


	25. Y is for Yearn

“You drinking to forget or to remember?” the bartender set the bottle of amber liquid in front of him, as well as a clean glass, eyebrow raised. It was a small bar on some backwater planet he’d ended up on after running for his life. Not much life in here at this time of the day, but he didn’t really care.

“I was suppose to get married today,” he gestured to the glass and the bartender poured him a glass, looking sad for him.

“Ah, haven’t seen one of those in a while. They leave you at the altar?” the bartender left the bottle in reach and started wiping down the counter.

“Didn’t even make it that far,” he downed the glass in one go, enjoying the burn as it slide down his throat. “Didn’t even make it to the end of the war.”

“Dead then. That’s rough. Drinks on the house, but if you get in a fight I will kick your ass out on the street naked,” the bartender waggled a warning finger at him before moving on to another customer. He sighed and poured himself another drink, meeting his own gaze in the mirror behind the bar. They’d picked the date as just something of a joke, knowing that they probably wouldn’t actually get married today. No one knew when the war was going to end and things would settle down for them.

He downed his next drink, focusing on the burn in his throat than the burn in his eyes. It was more of a symbol of hope for them, something to look forward to as they pushed on through the galaxy, doing their jobs as best they could. They hadn’t even really told anyone what they were planning, so they were the only ones who could mourn today. Well, he was the only one who could mourn today. After all, he had shot his fiancé right in the back without a second thought.

Commander Cody, now an ex-Imperial officer, sat at a bar on some backwater planet and celebrated for the both of them. After all, it wasn’t every day you almost got married to a Jedi.

*~*~*

The headache was the first thing he noticed when he woke. It felt like a cruiser was trying to ram his head in half after running him over. Just how he liked starting his mornings. He’d had a few over the years, but this was the first since Order 66. It was the first time he had been able to actually drink till he dropped and he had wanted to so badly. Since 66, he’d been beating on himself, taking out all of his frustrations on himself with one suicide mission after another. It was a little over a year after he’d uttered those cursed words that had killed his fiancé and he’d somehow made it to this day. He couldn’t just give up, though. If there was ever a way to make it up to Obi-wan, then living and keeping his memory alive was the one way he knew how.

He didn’t remember much after leaving the bar, the bottle of whiskey sitting half empty back by his chair and a full one in hand, bought from the bar tender to drink in the privacy and safety of his ship. He remembered getting back to his ship and setting himself up in his cockpit with the bottle and the silence that echoed around him. He couldn’t remember if he was drinking to block out that silence, to get rid of the images his head created of how the day should have been or trying to forget what he had done to ruin everything in one simple action. Possibly all three, going off of the way his brain was trying to escape out his ears.

“Awake, I see,” a voice spoke softly, almost a whispered, but it still caused him to wince. He wanted to shove that voice away but his arms felt like lead and he was sure that the world had started spinning on top of everything. This, this was the reason he never drank. Once he started, he had trouble stopping.

“Hold on, one second,” the voice spoke again, male if he was hearing right and a cool hand pressed against his forehead. Like a breath of fresh air, something cool spread over him, easing the pounding his head into something much more manageable. The hand removed itself when it felt him relax and Cody forced his eyes open, surprised to see that the room he was in was dimly lit. Whoever his savior was, they were decent people who had dealt with drunkards before. That feel he had gotten after they’d placed their hand on his forehead was similar to what….

He sat up abruptly, trying to catch sight of the other person and immediately regretted. Thankfully his good Samaritan was there with a bucket for him to throw up into. A hand came to rest between his shoulders, rubbing soothing circles as he threw up whatever was left in his stomach. Once he’d emptied his stomach and sat there panting into the bucket, he became aware of someone laughing. The hand patted him gently on the back before pulling the bucket away, “You always forget about sitting up too quickly.”

“You’re a Jedi,” Cody said simply, resting his head in his hands as he collected himself. Months ago he would’ve killed the man on sight just knowing that. But a head injury had given his clone medic the opportunity to remove his chip and freed Cody of that burden at long last. All the remaining clones had been checked regularly for their chips and any found without them had been either terminated or had the chips forcibly replaced. As soon as he was well enough, Cody had bailed out, more than happy to be free of that added pressure on his mind.

“Ah…I see,” the man sounded tense now and Cody felt the bed next to him shift as the man sat down next to him. Cody shifted his head a little so he could get a look at the man without lifting it from the cradle of his hands and froze. Obi-wan looked at him sadly, looking the same as he had over a year ago. He sighed, but kept his eyes on Cody’s, “You don’t have the chip in anymore.”

“Medic took it out a few months back after I took a door to the head,” Cody automatically answered, still dumbfounded. Obi-wan was here, was breathing…was he? Cody immediately reached out then stopped himself, his hand just inches from touching the man before him, “You are…. you’re real, right? This isn’t just a drunken hallucination?”

“Good lord, Cody,” Obi-wan breathed out before grabbing Cody’s hand himself, pressing the limp fingers to his chest so the clone could feel his heart beat. “I am as alive as you are.”

“Sithspawn,” Cody whispered before practically throwing himself at Obi-wan, wrapping himself around the man. “I thought I had killed you.”

“You thought you had…Palpatine didn’t tell anyone then,” Obi-wan was tense for a second before wrapping his arms around Cody, holding himself close. “Anakin betrayed us, sided with Palpatine. He’s Vader now, badly injured from our battle on Mustafar.”

“That thing is…is Anakin?” Cody pulled back, wiping a few tears that had managed to leak out away.

“Yes, you’ve met him?” Obi-wan tensed once more, a hand coming to rest on Cody’s leg.

“We had a disagreement. That’s when my head met the door. Well, went through the door,” Cody rubbed absently at the back of his head, the now healed scars itching with a distant pain.

“Cody,” Obi-wan’s hand on his leg tightened. “How are you alive?”

“My helmet was on, at the time. Medic says that’s what saved me,” Cody glanced up at Obi-wan’s face and found only concern. “But why are you here?”

“Well, we were suppose to get married yesterday,” Obi-wan forced a laugh, his grip loosening. “I just felt the need to find you. I had no idea what I was going to do when I found you but…you were so pathetic, actually. Sprawled out in the hold in your own vomit, empty bottle of whiskey just out of reach.”

“Frak,” Cody dropped his head to his hands, massaging his forehead against the building headache. “Killing me would’ve been a kindness at that point.”

“I think I want you to suffer, though,” Obi-wan wrapped a gently hand around the back of his neck, thumb brushing against his bristles. “Suffer for years and years having to put up with me. Because even though you tried to kill me and were lying there as vulnerable as I have ever seen you in a puddle of your own vomit, I realized I still loved you. Vomit and all. Sadly.”

“You really shouldn’t. Love me,” Cody forced out, his throat tight.

“Well, you have no say in who I love or don’t love. So I’m going torture you for years. Killing with kindness and all that,” Obi-wan gave a little laugh. “But I am not kissing you till we shave that carpet off your face and bleach your mouth.”

“You have a beard,” Cody countered, smiling now.

“Yes, I do. And as the only sane one in this relationship, I have decided I am the only one allowed to have a beard,” Obi-wan pressed a kiss to his temple. “You’ll thank, someday.”

*~*~*

“Rex is going to punch you when he finds out where you went,” Cody fixed his collar for the hundredth time as he leaned against the railing, looking over the railing from their balcony of the room Obi-wan had booked for them on Alderaan.

“I think you’ll be a big enough distraction,” Obi-wan said from behind him as arms wrapped around his middle, a hand coming to tangle through his, silver rings clinking against each other. “Its not like they haven’t joked about it enough over the years.”

“Ahsoka is going to cry, I think she wanted to be a flower girl,” Cody squeezed Obi-wan’s hand, looking down at the two bands, feeling very content in the moment.

“We can have another ceremony for all of them. This one was for us, as is tonight. Think of it as we get two honeymoons,” Obi-wan rested his head on Cody’s shoulder. “I give them three days to figure out we’re here.”

“Unless Bail somehow finds the marriage certificate for Obi-wan and Cody Kenobi,” Cody laughed, pressing his head against Obi-wan’s. “We could’ve done it somewhere else.”

“I’m in a mood,” Obi-wan smiled brightly. “Hiding right under their noses, in plain sight for everyone to see. Just how I want it.”

“And everyone thought you were peaceful,” Cody turned in Obi-wan’s arms so he was facing his husband, his smile growing at the thought. “And just think, only two weeks ago I was lying in my own vomit.”

“It’ll be a story we keep to ourselves, to save you from the mockery,” Obi-wan leaned forward, pressing his lips to Cody’s. The clone easily opened up for him and the kiss turned dirty, Obi-wan pressing Cody against the railing.

Cody pulled away first, breathing heavily, “Should take this to the bed.”

“It is a nice bed,” Obi-wan trailed his lips down Cody’s neck. “All fluffy and soft and waiting for us.”

“Can we please go?” Cody shoved Obi-wan lightly, feeling his own erection growing in the nice pants Obi-wan had insisted he wear to the simple marriage ceremony he’d arranged.

“Well, since you’re begging.”


	26. Z is for Zenosyne

_“Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan... Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time.” –Obi-wan Kenobi, A New Hope_

“You ever wonder what the others are doing?” Cody let Obi-wan ease him down onto the only bed in the hovel. Even though Cody had only been living with him for around five years, Obi-wan still found that it was hard to remember what this place was like without him. Looking over his friend now, he knew it wasn’t long before he was going to have to remember what it was like here with the clone around. It was right around fourteen years since this very same man had ordered his men to open fire on him, but even now he still had trouble associating that man with the commander he had fought beside.

“We could just answer one of the calls we get weekly from Ahsoka to actually find out,” Obi-wan smiled softly as he lifted Cody’s legs onto the bed and pulled the heavy blanket up over him. With the storm raging outside, sand whipping against the outer walls, the temperature inside had dropped. Not enough to bother Obi-wan but Cody felt the slight chill in his very bones.

“No, you came out here for a reason. They’d just drag you away,” Cody shifted against the pillows a little, getting more comfortable. The years had not been kind to him, shredding away every ounce of strength he had once had. He’d spent another five years with the Empire after 66 until his chip had finally deactivated. Cody had said it had been like waking from a dream only to find reality was a nightmare. He didn’t say much on what had happened after he’d awoken from the chip induced haze, but the scars covering his body and the nightmares that woke him at least once a week said enough.

“The boy is doing just fine,” Obi-wan scoffed, sitting down on the bed beside the former commander. “And I just know those two are going to get into trouble, more so than they have.”

Cody gave a weak smile and took Obi-wan’s hand, “You need to be ready when the time comes.”

Obi-wan sobered at that, looking down at the old, stiff fingers holding his hand. He’d discovered Cody on a trip into Mos Eisley to get supplies, the old clone begging for food just outside the spaceport. He’d been skin and bones then, shuffling around with the help of a cane, his bad left leg dragging behind him. Cody had mentioned he’d run with some mercs for a bit before the Empire had caught up with them. Guess one of the mercs was supplying for the Rebels. Cody had gotten out of there with the help of a young Twi’lek smuggler who’d dropped him on Tatooine with some coin and in the hands of a local healer. That was about three months before Obi-wan had found him.

“Its been five years, Codes, I don’t know if I can remember how,” Obi-wan squeezed Cody’s hand gently, running his free hand through the clone’s grey hair. He’d let it grow out, still shorter but longer than his buzz cut from the war.

“You don’t have to be alone,” Cody said softly, pulling their hands to his chest. “Go find the others, spend a little time with them. You don’t have to tell them about me, just be with them. I can’t…you can’t stay here.”

“You’re here. That’s all I need, that’s all I ever needed and I didn’t realize that till it was too late,” Obi-wan moved his hand to rest against Cody’s cheek. “Seeing you now, like this…it brings everything back. I’ve lost you once before. I don’t think I can do it again.”

“Qui-Gon won’t be far and he’ll keep an eye on me for you. He promised me that much,” Cody gasped out before turning away slightly, coughing hard against the tightness in his lungs. The doctor had given the clone a little over a month to live when he had last been out. Cody had last two months but just barely, “I love you, Obi-wan and I don’t want you to forget that, ok?”

“I love you, too,” Obi-wan smiled sadly, stroking Cody’s cheek.

Cody pulled weakly at his hand, smiling back, “Lie down, I’m cold. Better than a space heater any day.”

“That’s because you like to get handsy in bed and the space heater will burn you, not let you get away with it,” Obi-wan chuckled as he crawled under the blankets and pulled Cody close as he rested against the headboard. They laid in silence for a long time, the only noise in the hovel the howling winds outside and the mingling of their breathing. Obi-wan wished he could chase away the rattling in Cody’s chest and keep this man with him till the end of time. He never thought he could love someone as much as he loved Cody, not when he was a Jedi and especially not when the Republic was in shambles and Obi-wan didn’t know what to do now that the Jedi were no more. Even after he had found Rex, Ahsoka and the others and helped them form the Rebellion he still felt off kilter. It wasn’t till he’d stumbled upon the old beggar that he had felt that he once again had a center.

“I was always so ready in the war,” Cody broke through his thoughts, drawing Obi-wan back into the present. “To die. Especially for you. It was my duty. To die, to fight. We weren’t meant to live this long.”

Obi-wan pressed his cheek against the top of Cody’s head, pulling the clone closer and rubbing a hand over his shoulder, “You shouldn’t have been.”

“I was. More than willing. I thought the Empire was going to….going to terminate me,” Cody rasped out, the rattling in his chest growing worse. “I saw them do it. So many of the boys. Gone without an answer.”

He pulled away, coughing again, harder this time, “I don’t…I don’t want to go. I don’t want to….to die. I’m….afraid.”

“It’s a new start,” Ob-wan felt like he was dreaming and he wished he was. “Whatever happens after….its a new beginning for you. Who knows what you can do.”

“I’m not afraid for me,” Cody looked up at Obi-wan, tears in his eyes. “I’m afraid of what you’ll do.”

“I won’t become Anakin,” Obi-wan pressed his forehead to Cody’s, not hiding his own tears. “I promised you a long time ago I would live and I will. But I will be looking forward to the day I will be with you once more.”

“I will wait. I’m always waiting on you,” Cody gave a watery smile.

“You know me, always having to take the detours,” Obi-wan offered a chuckled, pressing a chaste kiss to the clone’s lips. “I’ll find the others, teach the boy, and then I will find you. Nothing will keep me from you this time.”

“Good,” Cody slumped down back to resting his head against Obi-wan’s chest. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Obi-wan ran his hand through Cody’s hair, watching the sand dance outside in the gaps in the curtains. Cody’s breathing evened out into slumber, his body limp against Obi-wan’s. He didn’t move, though, watching over his friend, lover, partner one last time. He didn’t move as Cody’s breathing got slower and slower or when there was more rattling than breathing. His fingers kept running through the grey hair even as the skin around Cody’s eyes grew tight, his mouth involuntarily falling open in a last attempt to get more air in. He didn’t break his vigil till the last small breath left Cody in a sad, wet sigh.

The body in his arms fell completely limp in that moment, all the life fleeing in that breath and with it went Obi-wan’s control. The storm raged on outside as Obi-wan sobbed over the now empty body in his arms, his control on the Force shattering. Objects were torn from their resting places and flung around the room, the only calm spot in the hovel being the bed built for two and now holding one.

He buried Cody on top of the cliff his hovel was built into. Every day he sat there, watching the unchanging seas of sand with his only company being the smooth stone placed above the clone’s head. He sat and he waited, alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it. The final chapter. Thanks for hanging in with me, I know some of you have been on this ride since I first posted this story over two years ago. If you really liked this one and wanted more, have no fear! I have three similar ABC stories in the works as well! See you in the space lanes, fellow travelers!


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